Undercover Confessions
by Ilovedesserts
Summary: A/U, set during The Closer Season 5-7 time frame. Chief Pope sends two of his best undercover to identify wine thieves.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, here's the start to a new story. I am weaving an undercover case in here. Hope you like it. Thanks to Bridgette for ideas that will come into play later in the story. As always, these are not my characters. I'm just enjoying them. This story is set during The Closer, no specific year, but it would be somewhere during Seasons 5-7 when Sharon is around. This is also in the A/U realm.**

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She'd been summoned. Oh, she hated being summoned, especially to Pope's office. In her job, people didn't summon her; she summoned them. It was part of the power she liked. She might have the most hated job in the LAPD, but she enjoyed that others had to come to her. There wasn't much to like running Internal Affairs, but making people come to her, and then watching them squirm, that she enjoyed. She didn't enjoy being summoned to any office, especially Pope's office. He was just about the only one in the LAPD who could summon her, and she actually had to go. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good because she had no reason for a summons.

"Ahh, Captain, come in," Pope waved her toward his desk. Sharon nodded and proceeded toward his desk. "Have a seat, and we can all get started."

All. Sharon's head snapped up at the mention of "all." Such a simple word, yet it implied more than one, more than two. Her head scanned the room, noting someone else was sitting in a chair. She knew that silver hair anywhere. Sharon sighed as she made her way across the room, sitting in the chair with only a quick glance to the other occupant.

Andy. Lieutenant Flynn to be exact. He didn't glance her way; he just stared ahead, looking right at Pope. Okay, that was deliberate because no one wanted to look at Pope. Sharon cast a quick glance at Andy and then, when he didn't meet her gaze, she looked back over to Pope.

"I'll make this brief," Pope frowned as he sat down at his desk. "The FBI has asked for our help, and well, really, they want to turn this over to us now. They've been tracking some wine smuggling. I know," he waved his hands and rolled his eyes, "that doesn't sound dangerous or anything-what' a few bottles of wine, right? Well, it's big, and some of these bottles can be a lot more expensive than you imagine. Anyway, the wine has been passing through LA, and this group is getting pretty bold. There is a wine convention this coming weekend here in town, and they believe the majority of the group will be attending. That's where you two come in. I need you to go undercover."

Sharon glanced and Andy, and for the first time since she'd arrived in the room, he glanced at her. They both quickly looked back toward Pope.

"Chief, I don't think I'm the right person for the job," Sharon offered. She looked to Andy, "Chief, you can't possibly send him into this either," she waved her hand at Andy.

"And, what is so wrong with my detective skills?" Andy turned and barked at Sharon. "I'm a good detective, no matter what you think!"

"Calm down you two," Chief rolled his eyes. "This," he waved between the two of them, "is precisely why I picked the two of you. You didn't let me finish. Not only are you going undercover, you are going undercover as a married couple. That banter," he waved again, "that total irritation you two have with each other-that will play undercover. I don't have to ask you to act that part. You have it covered, have for years. People will totally buy you are married with that level of irritation, trust me," he rolled his eyes again.

"Chief-"Sharon tried but was cut off.

"Listen, Captain. You aren't talking your way out of this, or his," he nodded to Andy. "I picked you, Captain, because you are good at details, and your whole essence screams cultured and sophisticated. I'm guessing you can tell apart some of your wines, and what you don't know, you can learn. The vendors will believe you are there as a buyer. Also, I need someone who is a ranking officer, and quite honestly, no others fit the part like you do. Chief Johnson, as good at her job as she is, her Southern accent won't allow her to blend in like I need you to do. Flynn, as much as it pains me to say, you are a good detective, yes. You also have a way about you, the way you dress and carry yourself. Those are some of the reasons why I picked you. Provenza," Pope rolled his eyes, "would argue fine wine is getting a bottle of any wine instead of a box of wine at the gas station," he sighed. "You two are the right ones for this."

"I'm an alcoholic, Chief!" Andy stammered.

"I know," Pope nodded. "That's also precisely why I picked you too. That's one of the main selling points in these groups. Some have become alcoholics. They don't drink, but they can't pull themselves away from wine. They crave being around it, to sell it to others, use it in their restaurants. The two of you-Flynn, an alcoholic who supports his wife's fine wine obsession, and Captain, a woman who has the money and culture behind her to want only the best-you two are my detectives for this. Your objective is to locate those involved in the wine smuggling. They've been switching out the fine wines with cheap knockoffs, and by the time buyers figure it out, this group is long gone, of course, with very, very expensive wine. Often, they turn around and resell it for the original price, making a killing. We are talking thousands and thousands of dollars. Now, Flynn, I picked you for this for reasons I explained. Tell me, is wine going to be an issue?"

Andy glanced up at Pope. Pope looked to Andy and noted Sharon was shaking her head, "No," Andy replied. "Wine was never my thing. I was a liquor guy. Wine won't be a temptation."

"Very good," Pope nodded. "Here's all the info," he threw a packet on the desk between where they were sitting. "You are Cristin and Todd Brock. Your profiles are inside. No kids-that makes it easy to not invent crazy stories. You've been married 25 years, so your normal banter or arguing will seem normal. You like wines and are looking for new investments, which should be attractive to this group. You can read the rest. The wine convention will be this weekend, here in LA, which again, is why the FBI is pushing this on us. I have to continue to brief them, and they can be brought in if needed, but honestly, this seems like something we can easily handle. Flynn, I'll take care of Chief Johnson, and Captain, I expect you can alert your staff you are away for work?"

"Ahh, yes, Chief," Sharon said, still in a daze of this newest case.

"Very good. We'll have coordinating units from LAPD in contact with you within the hour to setup everything. Right now, you both need to go home and pack a few things. Professional wardrobe for the most part, as well as a couple cocktail type dresses, Captain," he nodded to her. Sharon returned the nod. "This group seems to have evening wine tasting events that will require cocktail attire. Any questions?"

"And, where will we be staying?" Sharon asked.

"Oh, about that," Pope nodded. "We have a room for you at the Beverly Wilshire, which is where the conference. SIS, who will be your eyes and ears, is preparing a car for you. Go home, pack, and when you return, they'll have the car and all your details."

"What kind of timeframe are you expecting, Chief?" Andy said, flipping through the folder.

"The conference is only this weekend, and we all believe, FBI and myself, that this can be handled in that amount of time. You need to locate this group, get the proof, and we'll arrest them. The FBI is covering the hotel bill, as well as the overtime for you and the others. It's a joint operation, and we can turn the group over to them when we apprehend them. Major Crimes will be involved too. As I said, I'll bring Chief Johnson up to speed as soon as you two are out of here. Now, go," he nodded.

The two didn't utter a word until they were out of Pope's office. Sharon started toward the elevator while Andy continued toward Major Crimes. "You know, I'm not exactly thrilled about this," Andy called to her as she stood at the elevator. Her arms were crossed, and she continued to press the button, as if that would get the elevator moving any faster.

Sharon turned, her stance defensive, and she looked at Andy, "You're not thrilled? I'm not either."

"Fine!" he snapped back at her. "See you back here in two hours, Captain," he snipped at her, enunciating her rank. She took a deep breath and sighed, closing her eyes when he walked away. It was going to be a long weekend, and completing their assignment was going to be easier than dealing with each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Thanks for the great feedback! I'm hoping this is a fun story, but still with plenty of twists and turns. Enjoy!**

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"There you are. It's about time you returned. Pope has been in here three times asking if you were back yet," Andy snapped at Sharon when she entered Major Crimes. It was now past the normal workday, and while she had secretly hoped Brenda and the rest of the team had gone home to change for this undercover assignment, she sadly found every single member of the team waiting. Waiting-they were waiting to see this laughable scene unfold. Major Crimes. She hated having to work with Major Crimes, and here they all were, waiting to laugh at her, this crazy assignment.

"We said two hours. It's now been," she checked her watch, "two hours and five minutes," she enunciated, eyeing him.

"Yeah," he stood as he started to gather his things, "and I live further away than you do. I still managed to get home, get all the things I need, and make it back here before you did. Where's all your stuff?"

Sharon gave him her best fake smile, "I left it in the hall near Pope's office and the elevator. I didn't see a need to haul it all over the place. Let's get this over. The sooner we get there, hopefully, the sooner this will be over."

"Oh, I wish I was going to be the room service guy on this one," Gabriel chuckled and stopped when Andy turned to him with a glare. Gabriel looked to Julio. "I'll pay you for updates on their room service delivery."

"Done," Julio grinned, glancing back at the two. Julio had been assigned as their room service butler, and thus, he would be one of the only ones to be in direct contact with Sharon and Andy throughout the assignment.

"Well, it's no question if Pope wanted to pick the two people in this building who hate each other the most, you two won the prize. Maybe that's what he was looking for in a fake married couple," Provenza chuckled. "True of all my ex-wives. We hate each other. Flynn, while you are stuck with her all weekend, I'll be hitting the bar and watching the Dodger game when I'm not on my shift."

"Laugh it up," Andy sighed, as he finished collecting his things.

"There you are, Captain," they heard and looked up to see Brenda walking toward them. "I just spoke to Chief Pope, and he was wondering what was taking you so long."

"It's just been two hours!" Sharon exclaimed. "That was the timeframe we agreed upon," she sighed.

"Don't forget the five minutes, Captain," Provenza pointed out. "You said two hours and five minutes. Flynn was on time."

Sharon whipped around to glare at Provenza, but he just gave her a small wave and a smile. She turned back as Brenda approached her, "Well, Captain, seems like everything is set. I've been briefed and am going to brief the team here as soon as you and Andy get going. Well," she turned to Andy, "go," she shooed them off. "Pope is meeting you at the elevator. He said if Captain Raydor wasn't here yet, he was meeting her downstairs at the elevator when she arrived. You'd better go. He wants you to go get a move on it."

The two nodded to Brenda and started for the door, but not before Mike called out, "Andy, nice knowing you!" The rest of the team laughed, and Andy just gave them a smug nod as he followed Sharon. She collected her things by Pope's office, just as he met them in the hallway.

"Oh, Captain, good, you finally made it," he said. Sharon looked up, catching Andy's eye, where she saw him start to chuckle, and she was about to tear into Pope, when he continued, "Your car is waiting downstairs. We have a BMW SUV for the two of you. We figure arriving in a vehicle like that fits the part and allows room for a lot of wine to be purchased. Covers all our bases. Here are the keys," he handed to Andy.

"Excuse me, Chief. Why does he get to drive? I'm fully capable of driving," Sharon pointed out. Both Pope and Andy rolled their eyes, and Andy crossed his arms.

"He's the guy," Pope said.

"Yes," Sharon drew the word out, glaring at both men.

"Look, you're playing a part. You two are supposed to have been married 25 years. He's driving. Captain, I don't have time for women's right stuff right now. I'm fully aware you can handle yourself, usually better than every man in this building, but please," he raised his voice, "just let Flynn drive!"

Sharon rolled her eyes and huffed. She collected her things and turned back to Andy and Pope, "Anything else, CHIEF," she said deliberately. "Need me to call him any cute names-Honey, Baby, Sweetness-anything like that?"

"I'm sure whatever you want to call him will be fine, as long as it's not a term like idiot or something, but" he shrugged, "25 years of marriage, that might be believable too. Come to think of it-my ex-wife called me an idiot on many occasions. As for the case, yes, one more thing," he dug out of his pocket, "here, try on these rings. I got them from some of the other undercover work that has been done. If these don't fit, we can stop by property quickly, but I took a guess on sizes. I didn't think either of you had wedding rings."

Andy snatched the solid band from Pope's hand. Sharon spoke up, "Actually, Chief, I did think of that, but when I divorced my husband, well," she shrugged, "I sent that to my daughter. I knew she'd enjoy having something I never want to see again, so yes, you were correct in your assumption." Sharon picked up the other band, trying it on. Neither had any problems with the sizing.

"Good," Pope nodded. "They fit. You will need to stop by property to sign out a diamond ring. They didn't want to sign one out without you trying it on. So, on your way down, pick that up, and you two can head for the hotel and get setup," he nodded. "You have that packet, and room service will deliver your earwigs later. Any questions now?"

Both Sharon and Andy shook their heads; they were clear on the mission for the moment. Pope punched the buttons on the elevator, holding it open while they entered. "Good luck, you two. Be safe," Pope nodded.

The ride to property was quiet, and Sharon moved ahead of Andy quickly to get the ring addressed. Andy hung back as she tried on a couple and then signed out the ring. Within a few minutes, they were back on the elevator and on their way to the parking garage.

"I'm fully capable of driving, you know," Sharon addressed the driving issues again. As they got off the elevator, she heard Andy sigh. Their car was waiting for them right at the elevator.

"I'm aware of that, Sharon," he sighed again. He opened the car, and the two started to load their things, finding a few more bags inside. These held some of their surveillance equipment. "Get in; I'll finish loading the car."

"I'm also capable of helping," she pointed out, snatching her bag from him as he tried to load it.

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. "Why do I try to do something nice?" he shook his head. Two minutes later, they were both done loading and getting themselves situated in the car.

"I looked up the drive, and even in traffic, it should only take us a half hour. At this time of the day, I expect traffic to be pretty heavy," Sharon said, smoothing her suit, as she looked out the window. Andy just grunted at her information.

He broke the silence a few minutes later when they pulled up to a stoplight, "You know we are actually going to have to sit down and talk through this case when we get there?"

She just shook her head, "I know," she said quietly. "Andy, I've always worked with you when I've had to. Just do like you normally do anymore, ignore me when you can, and try not to yell too much at other times. Let's get situated at the hotel, and we can figure out the strategy. I want to finish this case as much as you do."

"Oh, crap," Andy muttered, finally causing Sharon to turn her head toward him with a questioning gaze. "I'm sure there's one room for us. I've been so busy thinking through all the stuff that I needed to do, that I'm now just thinking about the setup. We've got to share a room."

"Hmm, it's just getting better and better by the minute," Sharon complained, sighing as she shook her head. "Chief Pope really knows how to pick'em, doesn't he?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, lucky us," Andy said sarcastically. "There's just one bed and a couch. So much for wishful thinking. For once, why did Pope have to spring for a suite?"

"Hmm," Sharon surveyed the room. "I'll take the couch."

"No," Andy waved, "I will. You don't need to do that."

Sharon turned to him, rolling her eyes. "Have you noticed how tall you are compared to the size of that couch," she nodded her head toward it. "I'll take it. I think I can manage."

"Fine, Sharon. Whatever," Andy waved her off, depositing the last of the bags in better locations. The bellman had brought the bags up ahead of them, leaving them on the bed. Andy had moved things around in the room.

"Should we get started," Sharon walked to the small round table where they were going to have a chance to sit and go through their case.

"Yeah, umm, sure," Andy said, walking to the table where Sharon was now already seated. "Sorry, I almost messed up down there at the desk when we checked in," he sighed. "It won't happen again."

"That's why we need to sit now and go through everything. I know you are a good detective, Andy," she replied. Andy had almost blown everything when they had checked into the hotel. He and Sharon had walked up to the reservation counter, when he'd blanked.

 _"Welcome to the Beverly Wilshire," the staff member had greeted them. "What is the name on your reservation?"_

 _Andy stood there, unable to answer. He couldn't remember the name they were supposed to be using and with his blank stare turned to Sharon. She jumped right in, saving their cover._

 _"Forgive my husband," she smiled sweetly at the staff member and then to Andy. She put her hand over his, and then she turned back to the staff member. "He's suffering from dementia and well, sometimes, he blanks out. Cristin and Todd Brock." Their reservation was then processed without incident, but not before Andy nodded a silent thanks to Sharon._

"I get it," Andy said, now sitting next to Sharon to look at the files she'd spread out. "Normally, I have more than a couple hours to get things squared away. I'm good to go now. I won't let you down," he informed her.

She nodded, looking at the paperwork and not looking at him, "Thank you, and, for the record, back in Pope's office, when I said Pope couldn't possibly send you into this, I wasn't inferring you were a bad detective. I simply meant that Pope placing you undercover where alcohol was the center of the investigation was not a good idea."

"Okay," Andy shrugged, "but, I'm capable of taking care of myself. I'm not going to fall off the wagon at the sight of alcohol, Sharon."

"Fine," she nodded. "We've established that, as well as the fact that we need to study this stuff, so can we get to work?"

The two spent the next hour going over the details of the case. The first wine tasting event of the weekend was that evening from 8:00-10:00 PM downstairs in one of the conference rooms. They had a game plan for attending and were in the middle of that when there was a knock at the door. Andy jumped up and put his hand on his gun. Sharon waved him off.

"I bet it's room service, Dear," she threw a sarcastic look his way as she made her way to the door.

"Fine, then let me check it out," Andy jumped ahead of her to beat her to the door. "Never can be too careful."

Sharon sighed at Andy's attempt to "be the man" and stood there with her arms crossed. As Andy got closer to the door, the knock was repeated, "Room Service." Both could tell the voice belonged to Julio, so Andy took his hand off his gun and opened the door. Sharon still stood there, rooted to the spot, arms crossed and irritated.

"Ahh, good evening Mr. and Mrs. Brock," Julio grinned as Andy opened the door and he entered. Sharon could see he was enjoying things way too much. "I've brought you the dinner you requested."

Once Andy shut the door, Julio dropped the demeanor, "Lieutenant, Captain," he nodded, "There is some additional paperwork under this," he lifted the room service tray lids. "There's also some food," he threw a smile, "so you don't get crabby, Sir,-that comment is from Lieutenant Provenza, Sir," he smiled.

Sharon sighed again, shaking her head, "We just finished going over the plans. We are about to get ready for the cocktail party downstairs," she informed Julio who nodded.

"I was told to let you know that SIS is all setup for that. They have eyes and ears downstairs. Need anything else? Turn down service?" he grinned.

Andy snarled at him, "No, we don't need that. If you don't have anything else, just go," he waved.

"Pillows," Sharon called out. "Pillows and a blanket," she corrected herself. "I'm sleeping there," she nodded to the couch, so could you make sure that is available?"

"Yes, Captain," he replied. "Will do. I'd better go. Most room service staff don't look like they stayed to eat with the guests," he smiled and bowed out of the room quickly.

Andy lifted the lids on the room service platters to discover two salads were there as well as a tray of fruit, "Hey, they actually did send food," he nodded.

"Hmm," Sharon nodded. "Go ahead and eat. I'm going to start getting dressed for this cocktail thing. I'll be in the bathroom," she explained, gathering her things. Andy watched walk toward the bathroom, as he settled down to eat something before their long evening. He rolled his eyes to himself when he heard Sharon lock the bathroom door as if he'd barge in on her.

By the time she emerged, he'd finished his salad and about half of the fruit tray. He was trying to leave an equal amount of food for her. "While you eat, I'll get ready myself," he nodded. "The salad was pretty good."

"Hmm," she said still collecting her things, "I'm not that hungry."

"You need to eat, Sharon. For one, if you are sampling wine all evening, best not to do that on an empty stomach. Plus, no telling how late we will be up," he explained.

"Fine," he heard her sigh, as she came out of the bathroom. She was in a low cut black cocktail dress that looked like it had been designed for her. She had a pile of her clothes in one hand, and Andy didn't get the full effect of her dress until she put her clothing completely away in her bag.

"What?" she threw a glance his way, giving him an irritated look.

"Oh, um, well, um, you, you look very nice. That dress will fit in well," he stumbled over his words.

"Oh, thanks," she nodded. "Can you finish this zipper? It already got stuck in my hair, and I don't want to run the risk of breaking the zipper," she nodded to her back. Andy nodded and walked over to help her. He tried not to groan at the barely visible sight of the deep red bra strap he could see while helping with her zipper.

"There," he said, moving away quickly to grab his things. "I'll get ready."

While Andy showered, Sharon took a few minutes to pick at her salad, not really sitting down to eat it. She finished her own makeup and hair, and by the time Andy was finished with his shower, she had also finished getting ready and had finally sat down to property eat her dinner.

Andy needed to talk to her about the case, so he opened the bathroom door while he shaved. He'd decided going downstairs with his evening scruff wasn't the look he wanted to portray, so he stood in the bathroom, shaving, in his slacks and undershirt while he talked through the plans.

"So, you're going to sample the different tables and see if we can narrow in on the suspects, correct?" he asked. "Without me drinking, I should be able to keep an eye on everything around us while you strike up conversations with the vendors."

"Yes, that is my understanding too," she said, finishing what she could eat and wondering just how much longer he was going to take.

"And, I promise if anyone asks about our backstory, I'll let you run with that," Andy added.

"Fine," Sharon told him. "Are you about finished?" she said, needing him to finish dressing himself before he caught her staring at him.

"Yeah, let me throw on my shirt and tie," he told her. Five minutes later, the two were leaving their room for the evening. Andy had put on his red tie, still unable to get Sharon's dress zipper incident out of his mind. The two walked to the elevator in silence and quickly found the conference room when they got off on the second floor. Once they had their nametags in hand, they found themselves surrounded by a couple hundred people with at least that many different types of wine.

"Whoa, big group," he said under his breath. Sharon just hummed in agreement. They were both a little nervous; each could tell that, so Sharon jumped right in, walking to the nearest table.

"Good evening, folks," the vendor greeted them. "Can I interest you in this wine and the story behind it?"

"For me, yes," Sharon nodded. "For him, no wine," she smiled, shrugging. Andy just smiled and started his surveillance of the room. For the next five minutes, Sharon had to pretend she was interested in the story of the wine, while she could tell Andy was people watching, which was his job during this task. When Sharon was finally able to break from the vendor, Andy started to complain.

"Is that what the whole evening is going to be like? Oh, that was almost painful. Who needs a story of the exact type of tree the grapes came from anyway?"

"I know," Sharon nodded. "A little too much information, and I even love wine. I'll see if we can cut through some of that with the next vendor." For the next hour, the two mingled with different vendors before they decided to take a break and sit. The tables all had different appetizers set out, and soon, they found an empty table to regroup.

"Mind if we join you?" a voice said, and Sharon and Andy looked up to see two couples standing there.

"Not at all," Andy gestured for them to take the seats. "We're just catching our breaths a moment," he chuckled. He half stood, extending his hand to the guests, "Todd Brock, and this is my wife, Cristin," he nodded to Sharon.

"Ahh, nice to meet you," the first gentlemen held out his hand, "Ted and Susie Long and our friends," he nodded, "Andy and Abigail Thomas."

"Nice to meet you," Sharon offered a nod to everyone as they sat. Andy noticed he was the only one at the table without a glass of wine and filed that away. The group engaged in small talk for a few minutes, exchanging where they were all from. Andy remembered their profile said they were from the Phoenix area and stuck to that.

"So, Todd, not much of a wine drinker? Impressive you would come to this," Andy said. Andy bit his lip, knowing how hard it was to remember right now he wasn't Andy, but Todd, talking to another man named Andy.

"Well, Andy," Andy said, giving Sharon a slight smile, "I'm an alcoholic, so as much as I'd love a drink," he shrugged. "I still come for Cristin though. True love."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the other Andy said.

Andy held up his hand, "No, it's fine. I'm not ashamed of it. Been sober 15 years now."

"Wow, that's impressive," Abigail smiled. "How long have you two been married?" she inquired.

Sharon jumped in now, since she and Andy had agreed she would take the lead on any backstory. "We've been married 25 years now," she smiled.

"Same here!" Abigail smiled. "How did you meet?"

Andy nodded to Sharon, encouraging her to run with whatever story she wanted, "Well, let's see. We met back in college," she shrugged. "It was my freshman year and his senior year. We dated all through college and just one of those fairy tales. Married after college and here we are 25 years later, through good and bad," she smiled, patting Andy's hand. He smiled back at her and turned to the group.

"Yeah, no one has ever come close to Cristin since I met her," he nodded to the group. After chatting a few more minutes, Sharon and Andy excused themselves to the restroom. As they walked toward them, he whispered to her, "Okay, so after the restroom, do we want to hit up a few more vendors to further survey things tonight?"

She nodded, "Yes, that's fine. I think things are starting to wind down here, but I'm sure some of the vendors we haven't had a chance to meet yet will still be setup awhile longer. It said this was supposed to end at 10, but seeing as it's now 9:50 with no end in sight, I think we can get around to a few more vendors."

After another hour of surveying the scene, Sharon and Andy had enough. They had met just about every single vendor there, making sure the information could be heard over their electronic devices that were transmitting back to the team stationed outside the hotel. They knew all the names and information were being researched and expected to get some updates on any of the vendors either later that evening or first thing the next morning. With the night winding down, they retired to their room.

"Would you like to use the bathroom first to change?" Sharon asked, after they entered the room. "I realize I monopolized it first last time."

Andy waved her off, "No, no, go ahead. It's fine. I'll start taking my tie and all of here and finish up when you are done."

Sharon nodded and grabbed her things to change. While she was in the bathroom, a knock with "Room Service" following came to the door. Andy answered it quickly, ushering Julio inside.

"Where's the Captain?" he quickly surveyed the place. "You kill her already?' he grinned.

"No!" Andy said, irritated. "She's changing for bed," he waved toward the bathroom door.

"Really?" Julio grinned. "I can do that turn down service the hotel offers? I'll get anything else you need," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up, Julio!" Andy snapped at him. "Why are you here? Find anything good?"

Just then, Sharon came out of the bathroom, clad in her pajamas. She hadn't heard Julio enter and jumped when she glanced over to see him in the room.

"Detective Sanchez," she nodded. "I hope you have something for us?"

"That's what you are wearing to bed?" Andy said, irritated as he glanced at her. He rolled his eyes to Julio and sighed. Julio started to laugh.

Sharon looked down at herself, "Yes, why? What's wrong with it?"

"Flannel pajamas? It's May, Sharon. You brought a matching flannel pajama set that you've buttoned to your neck. Are you worried I'll attack you or something? I don't ever think I've seen you wear a shirt to work that you've ever buttoned that high," he sighed. Julio just chuckled and grinned at Andy.

"Well, Sir, she was late getting back to work today. I guess we know why-she had to find her best pajamas at home," he grinned.

"Detective," Sharon snapped, "I suggest my pajama attire NOT be the subject of any discussion. Do I make myself clear?" she changed her stance, crossing her arms and glaring at Julio.

"Yes, Ma'am, Captain," he nodded, scrambling to open the file in his hand. "for what it's worth, I love the striped flannel look."

"For your information, Lieutenant," she continued, turning her irritation on Andy, "I get cold, especially if I'm going to be sleeping on a couch."

Andy waved her off, looking over the paperwork Julio had brought. Sharon moved across the room to look at it too, "Now, they've only managed to go through the profiles of about half the vendors tonight. I think they made it through all the vendors you saw before you sat and talked to those couples. They said they'll work through the night and get a further update in the morning," he explained. 'Oh, and Chief, she said your backstory was fine, Captain, easy to believe with vague information. She just said to remind you to keep things vague as you did."

Sharon nodded, still with her arms crossed, as Julio finished. He nodded to them before leaving, "Have a lovely evening," he grinned before he bowed out of the door.

Andy sighed after Julio left and scratched his head. He turned back to where Sharon was studying the paperwork on the table. She looked up to catch his glance, "What?"

He just rolled his eyes at her, "Really? Flannel set? You look like you are five waiting on Santa. I bet those are something you wear at Christmas instead of when it's 85 degree is LA. Whatever happened to a t-shirt and comfortable shorts like most humans wear to bed?"

She rolled her eyes in return, "I told you. I get cold. I'm going to bed," she turned and started for the couch. "I'd suggest you get some sleep yourself. We have a long day tomorrow. Hopefully, they dig up some information overnight for us to work with in the morning."

Andy waved her off while he changed for bed. Sharon setup the couch as best she could, arranging the sheet Julio had left while they were downstairs, and then the blanket and pillow. She was situated on the couch when Andy padded out for bed in his boxers and t-shirt. He flipped off the lights before climbing into his bed. The silence in the room was tense.

"Try not to snore," she called out to him.

"I don't snore," he snapped back.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Sharon sighed.

"So, that backstory," Andy said after a couple minutes of silence.

"Not now, Lieutenant," she mumbled before the room was silent again.


	4. Chapter 4

The knock seemed faint, but as she awoke from her slumber, she realized Julio must be at the door again. She heard it open, only then realizing Andy must have gotten up to answer the door.

"Morning, Lieutenant, Captain," he nodded, surveying the room before he broke into a big grin. "Ma'am, I thought you were sleeping on the couch?"

Sharon sprang out of bed, the full reality of the scene finally hitting her. As she sprang out of bed, though, she quickly realized why she was in the bed; she was limping.

"Ouch," she said, hissing at her side and leg.

"What's going on?" Julio asked, a look of confusion clearly on his face.

Andy started to chuckle, "Oh, believe me, it's not what you think at all. That one," he hooked his hand over to Sharon, who was hobbling toward them, "fell off the couch last night."

"I didn't fall off the couch!" Sharon exclaimed.

"Really?" Andy turned to her, arms crossed. "What would you call it? If you didn't fall, why are you limping and holding your side. You got hurt. Let's explain that to Pope that you, a police captain, hurt yourself falling off a couch during an undercover assignment." He and Julio began to chuckle, as Sharon moved hair away from her face and threw a look their way.

"I was…I was hot," she sighed. That only got the men laughing even more, before she caved. "Fine! I was hot all wrapped up in the blanket with my pajamas. I got tangled in the blanket, and as I was trying to untangle myself in the dark on that small couch," she gestured to the offending item, "'I rolled off. I hit my side on the coffee table there, and my foot just got tangled in the blanket and twisted wrong. I'll be fine," she nodded to them. The men were almost doubled over laughing.

"So," Andy shrugged as he gestured toward the king size bed, "I was the nice guy and offered her half the bed. I also offered to pad the floor beside her with pillows in case she fell again."

Sharon was about to speak, but instead spun around and walked to the bathroom where she promptly closed the door. The men finally got control of their laughter after she was out of the room.

"Lieutenant, I actually did bring breakfast along with this file," he opened one of the platter lids. There is some information in there on two of the vendors. Chief wants you to hit them hard again today; it is the belief they might be involved in this ring on some level. She hopes to have more information for you by lunch," Julio explained.

Andy just nodded, flipping through the paperwork, "Okay, thanks. We'll take a look at this while we eat. I think the morning stuff starts at 10:00."

Julio nodded, "It does, Sir, and might I suggest that you come in pants," he nodded to Andy, chuckling at his boxes and t-shirt. Andy rolled his eyes and smacked the folder against Julio's chest.

"Go. I'm sure Sharon will be happy to leave a nice mess for the room service guy to clean up, and if you keep making cracks about me, I'll be glad to assist with that too. If you know what is good for you, you'll not share any of this," he circled his hand around the room. "It's like Vegas-what you see here, stays here."

"Sure thing, Lieutenant," Julio winked. "Call if you need anything else this morning. Otherwise, I'll see you with your lunch order."

"It had better have a vegetarian option," Andy nodded to him, and Julio just smiled.

Julio left, and Andy started to set up breakfast. Sharon emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, still in her stupid pajamas, but he could tell she had washed her face and brushed out her hair. She was still limping.

"Are you okay?" he turned to her. "You're still limping and holding your side from your "not fall" or what you call, a tangle with the sheets. Maybe I'll describe it to everyone as a tangle IN the sheets. That should get everyone's minds going," he flashed a smile.

"Oh, shut up," she snapped at him. "Just what I need, rumors of a tangle in the sheets," she sighed, as she flopped down in the chair. "I'm fine, just a little stiff from my back on that couch for a few hours and then my stupid foot. My side just aches a bit from hitting the table."

"Did you twist your ankle or something?" he sat down, motioning for her to put her foot in his lap. She shook her head and wouldn't lift her foot. He rolled his eyes and reached down to grab it anyway. He examined it, poking at a particularly sore spot, which he could tell when Sharon winced. "Well, it doesn't seem to be too bad, but I can tell it's bothering you."

"It will be fine," she waved him off as she moved her foot and then shifted to sit at the table. "What did Julio bring to eat?" she asked, changing the topic.

"Looks like a little of everything-eggs, French toast, English muffins-it's like the United Nations on a plate," he joked, meeting with an eye roll from Sharon at his attempt at a joke.

"Hmm, well, take whatever you like. I'll eat any of this," she nodded.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Please," she waved. Andy grabbed a bowl of oatmeal, the eggs, and one of the two bowls of fruit. The team seemed to know both at least well enough to know Andy and Sharon preferred healthier things like fruit.

"Thanks," he nodded to her. "You didn't want any of this?" he nodded to his plate.

"This is fine," Sharon waved to him. "I can't remember the last time I had French toast."

The two ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, both noting that coffee and tea had been put on their cart as well. Once they finished, Sharon spoke, "I think I'm going to hop in the shower. I'm feeling a bit gross," she made a face. "Do you need to use the bathroom first?"

"Ahh, yeah," he nodded. "I'll be quick, and then maybe when we are ready for the day, we can sit down and look at this file Julio brought with him."

"Fine," Sharon nodded, watching Andy disappear into the bathroom. She hobbled to her bag and dug out a dress for the day. It was a little more casual than she would wear to work. Pope had said business clothing, but she had gotten a vibe from the evening before and felt this would fit well with the ladies today. It was a royal blue, knee-length dress with cap sleeves and a scalloped neckline. It didn't have pockets, which annoyed her, and it was a little feminine for her work style, but it would be perfect today.

"All set," Andy nodded as he left the bathroom. "Take your time."

The first thing Sharon did when she closed the door was strip off the flannel. She was dying in it; it was way too hot, but there was no way she could admit that. Sharon took her time, emerging almost a half hour later, fully dressed, hair dried and styled, makeup applied.

"You know-I don't bite," he told her. "You don't have to lock yourself up in that bathroom to finish getting ready for the day. I do understand makeup and hair."

"Well, I'm just used to being alone," she nodded to him.

"And, whose fault is that?" he snapped at her. Silence descended them again, before Andy pushed the pile of paperwork toward her. "Take a look at this," he nodded. "Two of the vendors are looking suspicious."

Sharon dropped the defensive stance and sat down. She then noted that Andy had also gotten dressed for the day while she'd been in the bathroom. He was in slacks and a black polo shirt, a bit dressed down from his normal work attire, but she agreed with his choice for the day; the look would not only work, it looked good.

"Okay," she nodded, "I agree. That's why we are both on the case. He bothered me last night," she pointed at one of the men in the photo array Brenda had sent them.

"Funny, because that guy," he pointed at the other man, "bothered me. He kept staring at you. Every chance I got to glance his way, he was staring."

Sharon nodded, "Well, we should trust our instincts and focus on both men. They could both be involved as far as we know."

"I think I should take a crack at this one," she pointed to the one Andy said had been staring at her all evening. "I think maybe if he was staring at me, then I should try to get to him alone. Maybe he'll lead us to this whole ring of thieves."

Andy nodded, "Okay, as much as I don't like the idea of putting any officer on a potential suspect alone, you are probably right. Maybe you can suggest meeting him in the bar later. He'd probably talk more one on one. I'm sure we can put eyes and ears in the bar area, and I'll stay away. He knows I'm here with you, so he might not say anything if I'm around."

Sharon nodded in agreement, "Okay, what about this one," she pointed to the other man. "I got a bad vibe about him."

"Let's start with him vendor stand first thing this morning to get a better read on him. I didn't speak to him much. That one guy kept chatting it up with me when we were with that vendor, so let me get a feel for him, and then we can decide how to proceed. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan for the morning," she nodded.v


	5. Chapter 5

"So, now that we are up, fed, dressed for the day, and briefed on everything, I guess we wait," Andy suggested. "We've got about an hour until we need to go down to the vendor displays," he glanced at his watch as they sat at the table. They'd gone over everything multiple times and now had this awkward silence.

Sharon sighed, shaking her head, "I suppose we could turn on the television while we wait. Get caught up on the news, maybe?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "we could, or we could talk about the convenient backstory you invented last night. I guess it's not an invention totally if it is partially true."

She glared at him again and stood to start pacing. She didn't want to be seated at the table with him, not now. "Look, one of the rules of successful undercover work is to stick to the truth as much as possible. I was prepared for the 25 year question; we'd talked about that with Pope. You told me to run with anything else, so I did. We did meet when I was in college," she snapped.

"How could I forget," he huffed, "and, I thought getting my first apartment after college, near the college where rent was cheaper was a good idea. Man, was that a mistake," he grumbled.

"Can we not-" she was interrupted by a knock and immediate opening of the door. Sharon let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Morning, Ma'am, Sir," Julio greeted them as he came in. "I came to retrieve your breakfast cart." After the door closed, he dropped his formal demeanor. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" he asked, sensing the tension in the room.

"No," Andy waved, "just talking about the case. What's up?"

"Well, I did need to retrieve your breakfast. I'm supposed to make this look like my regular job, so that's what goes on with room service. Plus, Chief asked if you had plans with the two vendors. She suggested maybe lunch with one."

Both Andy and Sharon nodded, "Okay," Sharon said. "We can do that. We were planning to have me meet the one vendor in the bar later for drinks. Andy noticed the guy couldn't stop staring at me last night, so we're going to try that approach. You can inform the chief of that. We can try to setup lunch with the other one in question."

"Very good," he nodded. "She said to tell you the team will be listening in when you get down there and put in your earwigs. You still planning to go down there around 10:00?"

"Yes," Sharon nodded, looking at her watch, even though not even 10 minutes had passed since she and Andy had started their uncomfortable discussion. "I'm just going to freshen up," she nodded to the bathroom and disappeared.

Andy sighed, rubbing his hand over his face and turned to Julio, "She's getting to you already, Sir?" Julio smiled.

Andy waved it off, "Just not how I envisioned my weekend. I'll be glad to hopefully wrap this up tomorrow when this weekend thing ends."

"Tomorrow, Sir?" Julio looked at him with a questionable glance. "You know this runs through Monday, right? Chief doesn't think we'll be able to get what we need until Monday."

"Crap," Andy muttered, "so, that's two more nights here? All day today, Sunday, and possibly Monday?"

"At least, Sir, and if necessary, even into Monday evening. I thought you were told that?" Julio asked.

Andy shook his head, "No, and I don't think Sharon knows that either. I'll let her know when she's done in the bathroom."

"Okay, well, I'm going to get out of here with this," he nodded to the breakfast cart. "If I don't see you at lunchtime, I'll stop by later this afternoon with a room service snack."

"Thanks, Julio," Andy nodded, and Julio left.

Andy paced the room, going to the floor to ceiling windows to look outside; it was a beautiful day, and here he was stuck. He sighed and shook his head. This was not going well and was dredging up a lot of memories he'd just assume keep buried. It was bad enough working with her, seeing her all the time. Just his luck he was stuck on an undercover assignment with her, supposedly married to her.

"Did Julio have anything else to say?" Sharon came out, her makeup bag in her hand, pretending things were completely normal between them. She walked to her suitcase and put her makeup bag with her other things.

"Did you know this could drag on through Monday?" he turned to her. He really wanted to get back to the conversation they had started, but he needed to find out first.

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him, "No! Did he tell you that? Leave it to Pope," she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Unbelievable."

"Listen, I want to-" Andy was interrupted with Sharon's phone ringing. She looked at him, obviously surprised it was ringing. She held her hand up to him asking him to hold his thought and answered her phone.

"Sweetheart, this is a surprise," she smiled into the phone. Andy walked to the mini bar and got out a cranberry soda while Sharon was on the phone. "No, I'm not at home; I've caught a case, and it looks like I'm going to be working all weekend. You did? That's great." Sharon continued with her conversation while Andy sipped on his drink. It was a little awkward being in such confined spaces with her obviously taking a personal call.

When she hung up, Andy turned back around to her. She was standing there with a smile on her face. "Ricky?" he nodded to her phone, which she had clutched in her hand over her chest.

"What?" she looked up, startled. "What?" she repeated. "Oh, yes," she looked down at her hand, "Ricky. How did you know?"

"Well, it wouldn't be Jack, not the greeting for the ex-husband," he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you were discussing, I heard you say promotion, not that I was trying to eavesdrop, but it's not a large space here. Anyway, promotion didn't sound like the right phrasing for a ballerina."

"Oh," she nodded. "Yes, it was Ricky, and your detective work was correct. He got a promotion at work yesterday and was calling to tell me about it," she announced proudly. Andy nodded.

"Congratulations to him," he offered a small smile. "He's what, 23?"

"Hmm, yes," Sharon said with a narrow glance. "This is his first job out of college, and he's doing so well already. It's not a large promotion, but they are discovering that he's quite talented."

"He still into computers?" Andy asked.

"How do you know that?" she asked him, surprise on her face.

Andy ignored her question, "So, let's get back to the topic at hand," he suggested. "I'm sure we could talk about Ricky, Emily, or my kids all day, but that would be dodging what we've avoided for decades."

"Andy," she sighed, "we don't have time for this."

"Oh, we're going to make time, Sharon. If we are stuck on this little undercover op together, this long overdue conversation is going to happen. We can do it here in private, or I'll be happy to dig into it when Julio pops in the room. Your choice," he stated. "I've waited 30 years for this conversation, and I think I am due an explanation."

* * *

 **So, yes, it was short, but I wanted to give you a little bit of the backstory here. More to come!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Fine!" Sharon snapped at him, spinning around to face him. "You want to dredge all this up? Let's go ahead. I don't think we can get through everything in oh," she glanced at her watch, "30 minutes, but sure, let's start digging away. You want me to say that I regret my life? I regret many, many things, Andy, I do. I have difficultly saying, though, that I regret my kids because I don't. I love them very much, and I wouldn't have them without Jack. It's a problem that spiraled from one terrible decision I made, and yes, I'm fully acknowledging that I made it," she paused to catch her breath. "I can't say that I regret my kids."

"I wouldn't expect you to regret your kids! I don't regret mine either, but I would have had kids with you! Why would you have thought otherwise? You always said you wanted three or four kids. I remember that! I would have given you three or four kids, a house filled with kids if that is what you had wanted. Sure, they wouldn't be Emily Raydor or Ricky Raydor, but they would have been OUR kids-Flynn kids-Andy and Sharon's kids, and I can promise you right now that I wouldn't have done the disappearing act Jack did on you. I'm guessing that's why you only had the two. Jack up and left when Ricky was a baby; I know that even though you tried to hide it from the entire police force. I've always watched out for you, even if it had to be from afar. I noticed you carrying that burden of being a single mom with an absentee dad because he just left. No, I was yours, Sharon, if you would have said yes. I would have remained by your side. You're Catholic; I'm Catholic. I wasn't planning to marry someone just to leave them or divorce them later," he sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"You did get divorced; I got divorced!" she exclaimed. "So much for being Catholic."

"Sandra divorced me because I turned into a lousy husband who was more interested in drinking than being a husband or a father. I can't even blame her for that. She went out and found a husband who could be everything to her when I couldn't. I hate that my kids like him more than me right now, but he was there when I was a mess. What I can be irritated with her now is how she refuses to see how I've changed. I haven't had a drink in 15 years, but that's not good enough for her. She continues to trash talk me to the kids, and they don't want much to do with me. I know I made mistakes. Jumping into a marriage with her was one of them, but I can't regret it either because I have my kids. What I regret is what led me to that, the life I wanted with you. You are finally divorced because you came to your senses and realized Jack wasn't coming back, well, not without parading one of his young dates in your face. He's a womanizer, Sharon, and it pains me to see what he did to you, and how long you let it go on. He was cheating on you from early on, and I know you know that. We may never have discussed this before now, but you and I both know you're a good detective, and his behavior didn't spring up yesterday. I was so proud of you when you finally kicked him to the curb for good, even after I know he drained you of money, dignity, and the life you should have had. The problem I have, Sharon, is that a lot of this started with your answer to my question almost 30 years ago."

Sharon sighed as she shook her head. She met his gaze and just closed her eyes. When she opened them, he was still staring at her. "I know," she nodded, shrugging. "I know," she said again, this time sitting down in an armchair near her and putting her hands on her face. "For 30 years I've know that I messed up big time. I only have myself to blame, and yet, I feel like I caused a lot of the heartache in both our families. You didn't start drinking until later on, and I feel responsible for that."

Andy rubbed his hand across his face, "Yeah," he nodded. "Look, one of the things I've learned about being in AA is taking responsibility for your own actions, and I'm directing this at myself right now," he made sure to meet her gaze so she understood that. "No one forced me to start drinking. That was my own decision, just as it was my own decision to get further and further into the bottle instead of being there for my family. But yeah," he shrugged, "you are right about one thing. I didn't drink when we were dating. I did start drinking after I married Sandra and realized I'd made a huge mistake. She got pregnant with Nicole right away, partly because my own mom was in poor health. I wanted to give her grandkids before she passed away. It was only after I was married with a kid on the way, the full reality hit me. I didn't love Sandra like I'd loved you, and I realized I'd jumped into things too quickly. It was way too late to change any of that, and instead of trying to be a good husband and father, I started to run. I ran to the bottle. It wasn't too bad for awhile. Nicole was born, and she was everything," he smiled. "Work was work-long hours and not being home for Nicole. Sandra was trying to love me, but I just didn't feel the same," he sighed, shaking his head. "Then, she got pregnant again, well before we were planning to have any more kids, and the responsibility of another kid on the small salary I had, to a woman I just couldn't bring myself to love the same way I love you," he sighed again, "I ran to the bottle." Andy paced around the room before he sat down on the couch, the couch that had become Sharon's couch from her sleeping disaster the night before.

"You've just confirmed what I suspected for years," Sharon spoke quietly. "It sickens me to think that I was the cause of your drinking, and I know I was. You can say whatever you want, that you alone made that decision, but you just said that you started drinking after you were married. I hate that I was the reasoning behind that. I've felt that was the root of it for years, and I almost couldn't bring myself to look at you during those years at work when you'd end up in my office. Andy, I hate myself for causing so much heartache."

Andy nodded, looking at his watch, "It's almost 10:00. We need to table this for later and put our game faces back on to go downstairs. I know it is hard, but thank you for finally talking to me about all this. I feel we need to clear the air. Work isn't getting any easier, and it seems Pope is determined to pair you with Major Crimes more and more. It's healthier for both of us if we can just get this out in the open, once and for all, so we can stop screaming at each other."

Sharon nodded as she stood, wiping her face from the few tears that had formed. "I'll freshen up," she nodded again to him, "and will be ready to get to work."

"Let's go catch some dirt bags," Andy nodded to her as he stood.

* * *

 **Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to post what I had. Very long day ahead of me today.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, a nice long chapter after a couple of short ones. I'm trying to keep the case in the story, especially since they are here undercover for work. They discuss a little more of their history here, but more to come. Thanks for sticking with this!**

* * *

Andy eyed her in the elevator. Since they'd left the room, she'd been quiet, withdrawn. "You okay?" he asked as the elevator opened onto the floor. They'd just put in their earwigs and had other surveillance nearby, so they were ready for their day.

"Fine," she nodded to him, but he caught her glance, and her eyes said otherwise. "Let's go."

The venue was even more crowded than it had been the night before, and the different vendors were setup again. Some had different wines out, and after a quick scan of the room, they spotted many of the familiar faces from the evening. They saw, not only some of the same vendors, but some of the same couples. Sharon nodded to Andy, and the two casually made their way to their first target of the day, the vendor with whom they wanted to have lunch.

"Ahh, back again," he nodded. "I'm not sure I properly introduced myself last night, but by name is Thomas. I did give you our wine brochure last night, I believe if I'm correct?"

"Yes," Sharon smiled warmly at him. "My husband and I here went through the information. Your operation is quite impressive. We are very interested in speaking with you more, perhaps lunch?"

"Ahh, well, my schedule is very tight for lunch; I've setup a couple other appointments, but I am free for a cocktail, say maybe around 4:00? Would that work for you, perhaps in the bar?" Thomas asked.

Sharon threw a quick glance to Andy, and he plastered on his best smile, "4:00 would work just fine with us. We'll meet you in the bar and perhaps we can negotiate something."

"Lovely," Thomas clapped his hands together. "I look forward to it, Mr. and Mrs. Brock," he nodded.

"Ahh," Sharon smiled again, "you remember us."

"Of course," he smiled. "One could not forget a couple such as you. Cultured and intriguing since if memory serves, Mr. Brock, you didn't drink anything."

"Your memory is correct," Andy smiled. "Wine is Cristin's area," he put his hand loosely on Sharon's back to play his part, "I'm just the charming husband who tags along, ready to support any decision she makes."

"Very good, then," Thomas nodded. "I'll see you this afternoon." Sharon and Andy both nodded at him, and they moved away from the table, stopping at other vendors as to not arouse suspicion. They also weren't trying to rule out anyone, not yet at his point in the case. They still were making sure to cover all their bases. Soon, it had been an hour, and they still had to make their way to their other target for the day. They were two vendor tables away, and the two decided to take a quick break. The vendor spaced opened to a nearby patio, where Andy guided them for a bit of fresh air.

"Okay," he said once they were out of earshot. "What's the plan now that our original plan got a bit of a kink? We'd wanted to get you into the bar with this other dirt bag," he nodded to the vendor they hadn't approached yet. "What was his name-Brian, right?"

Sharon nodded, "Yes, the one we wanted to meet me later is Brian. Well," she looked up as she was thinking, "we could suggest meeting him even later this evening, more of a night cap instead of the afternoon bar scene. It would look a bit odd if we met both at the bar this afternoon."

Andy nodded, "He really wants to meet with you alone I can tell, so would you be okay with that later this evening?"

"Excuse me, Ma'am, Sir," they were interrupted and turned. "Cranberry and soda, the drinks you requested," the staff member nodded.

"We didn't order-" Andy was cut off by Sharon putting her hand on his arm. "Todd, I think you forgot we did," she nodded to the tray, and Andy looked up to the staff member who nodded to it as well. "His dementia," she shrugged with a saddened look.

"Oh, my apologies," he shook his head. "Yes, I forgot you asked for drinks to be brought to us, something that isn't wine," he chuckled.

"It's no problem, Sir. My name is Amy, and if you need anything further, let me know how I can assist you. Where can I put these drinks?"

"Ahh, let's take a seat over here," Sharon nodded to a patio table. The area was not busy at the moment, but they couldn't risk being overheard.

The three walked to the small table, Amy right behind them. She smiled at them, as she put their drinks on the table. Both sat, and she left them with a couple of napkins. "Let me know if I can get you anything else."

"Thank you," Andy nodded, as she walked away. Sharon glanced at the napkin left, noting the note that had been written. She waited until she had Andy's attention and nodded for him to glance at it. He read it and nodded back to her. She' used it to wipe her face and then stuffed it away.

"I think I'm going to feel like going back to the room for lunch," she said, making sure the note on the napkin, for them to return to their suite for lunch, was now spoken for anyone to hear.

"That will be fine," he nodded. "I know you didn't sleep well last night and would probably like to rest," he tried not to smile as he took a sip of his drink.

"Hmm, no I dealt with a real pain in my side all night," she said with an edge. He tried not to laugh as he continued to sip his drink. They sat in silence a few moments, knowing the rest of the team was listening to anything they were saying.

"Well, there are still a few vendors I'd like to browse. Are you ready, or would you like to sit here longer?" she asked.

"No, I'm ready," he stood. "I can enjoy my drink in there while you are sampling the different wines." The two made their way back inside, noting the patio area had gotten much more crowded. They spotted Amy, their drink attendant, serving others. Apparently, SIS had decided that adding another officer in the room was a good idea.

"Well, there you are!" Sharon and Andy stopped in their tracks, turning toward the source. "We've been looking for you this morning! We so enjoyed talking to you last night," Abigail said. Sharon and Andy smiled at them.

"How lovely to see you again," Sharon smiled at the two. "Abigail and Andy, correct?"

"You got it," the other Andy pointed to Sharon. "We can't forget you two either, Cristin and Todd."

"Yes, here we are," Andy nodded. It was definitely awkward for him playing someone not using his own name, all the while now talking to someone with his name.

"The vendor over there," Abigail pointed to one they'd skipped over earlier, "is having some pastries sent out here for us to enjoy. We hope you will join us. Pastries and wine," she shrugged. "They don't necessarily go together, but well, it can be a delicious treat. We're buying a few cases of his wine, so please, come sit with us," she encouraged.

Sharon glanced up at Andy, and he shrugged, "Sure, that sounds lovely." Andy figured it was going to be difficult to avoid this couple, and while it might cost them another half hour this morning, it would be easier to join the couple than avoid them. Plus, they might get information that could help their case. The vendor from whom they were buying wine had been cleared by the team last night. He was a local vendor, known throughout the area.

"So," Abigail said as they sat down, "have you found any wines you are going to purchase?"

Andy looked to Sharon, "You will have to ask Cristin here. I'm just along to swipe the credit card," he chuckled. "She has the final say since she'll be the one to enjoy it."

"There are several I have my eye on," Sharon started in on her conversation as she smiled at them. Amy reappeared with the plate of pastries that had been promised from the vendor. She dropped the platter off, along with plates and silverware. Sharon continued after Amy had left. "I still want to talk to a couple of other vendors and see what they have to say. I'm always interested in taste, but I'm also interested in how they process their wine."

"Understood," Abigail smiled. "We're new at this, so right now, we're still learning. Do you have a large collection of wine at home?"

"Not large," Sharon smiled. "It's a small one. We're in a condo, so we don't have a great deal of space. So, no, not large, but just selective."

"That's why she really takes her time at these things," Andy jumped in squeezing Sharon's hand and looking at the couple. "So, Andy, are you as into wine as your wife, or are you just dragged along to these things too?" Andy asked of the other Andy.

He chuckled, "I don't have the taste like she does. To me, still, wine is wine," he shrugged. "I'll drink it. I know the difference between red and white, and that's good enough for me. Our son is really into wine, which is how Abigail got into it as well. You have children?"

Andy shook his head, "No," he looked to Sharon, "no children," he shrugged. "Just never happened." It was hard for Andy to play the part of a guy who didn't have kids. He hated denying he had children, even if it was an undercover assignment.

"Oh, that's too bad," Andyl nodded. "We have our one son, and he's been a joy. 25 years old now," he smiled to them. "Yeah, if you can do the math, he was a bit of a surprise to us, and well, 25-year-old and 25 years of marriage," he chuckled. The table chuckled along with him, settling into comfortable silence.

"So, you said you two met in college. Where did you go to school?" Abigail asked, as she rested her chin on her folded hands that were propped on the table.

Andy nodded to Sharon, and she continued with their story, "Well, we met at USC here," she smiled. "I grew up in Connecticut and was delighted to come out here for college. It had been a dream of mine, different from all my friends. We met my first week here," she smiled over to Andy. "We met in the grocery store of all places," she chuckled.

"Grocery store?" Abigail asked. Andy nodded to her.

"We did," he shrugged. "He realized that once again, Sharon was giving the actual account of how they'd met, so he could add to this part. He also made a mental note to watch what he said knowing the whole team was listening. "It wasn't a battle over the last bananas or something," he shrugged. "Rather, we were waiting in line to checkout. She was in front of me, and the store's power went out. No one in the store wanted to just up and leave. We all had groceries to buy, and we didn't know how long the power would go out. Often, especially in a big city, that type of thing happens and seconds later, it comes back on. Anyway, while we were waiting to buy our groceries, we started talking, and the rest is history," he shrugged. Andy glanced toward Sharon and caught a small smile. He could tell she was thinking back to that moment when they had met, she at 18 and Andy at 22.

"Wow, what memories," Abigail smiled. "You never know where you will meet someone."

Sharon nodded, "Indeed. I'm sorry, and I hate to run, but I really do need to speak to a couple of the vendors. I hope you don't mind. We really have enjoyed talking to you and of course, we enjoyed sharing these pastries with you."

"Of course," the other Andy nodded and stood. Both Sharon and Andy stood too, both Andy and Andy shaking hands. Once they had bid a good bye to the couple they started back inside. As much as Sharon wanted to comment on Andy's reminiscing, she knew it would be heard by half the LAPD. She turned to Andy and instead said, "Let's hit up our other vendor and then go back upstairs for lunch."

"Okay," he nodded, his hand loosely on her back as he guided her back inside. They made their way to the vendor, Brian, and Sharon quickly fell back into her undercover role.

"I am very impressed with what I read last night. I read through all the materials you provided, and I'm quite interested in your different wines. Would it be possible to talk later?" she asked. Andy had wandered to the table nearby, just out of normal earshot. He wanted to give Sharon space to do her thing; she was supposed to be flirting with Brian since they'd both noted he had his eye on her.

"Oh, I'd be happy to go into more detail," he smiled, leaning in toward Sharon, who was smiling brightly at him. "Your husband planning to join us?"

"Oh, no," Sharon waved off Andy. "He's not interested in this or wine. Quite frankly," she chuckled, leaning in further and lowering her voice, "if you can keep a secret," she looked to Brian and he smiled and nodded, "I bring him along for his checkbook. He'll buy me whatever I like, just as long as I don't ask questions about what he does in his free time. He's more interested in other things or other people," she shrugged.

"Ahh, yes, I see," Brian smiled. "Well, then, I'd love to get together later. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we have plans later that I can't change," she rolled her eyes, "but maybe a nightcap say around 9:00?"

"Done," he grinned. "Your room or mine?"

That caught Sharon off guard; she didn't think he'd suggest anywhere. Quite frankly, she was going to suggest the bar. "Oh, well," she glanced back at Andy, "what about the bar?" Brian frowned, shaking his head, and Sharon continued before she lost Brian's interest, "I guess we could meet in my room. I think I can convince my husband to be anywhere else. He normally is anyway for hours on end each night," she gave Brian a sad smile.

"Well, you don't need to be alone," he winked at her. "I don't do business in public places, so your room it is."

Sharon nodded, "Room 1410. 9:00." Brian nodded back at her, and she turned to leave. She nodded to Andy who had continued to wander away, and she called to him, knowing that Brian was probably watching how she interacted with her so-called husband, "Todd, I'm tired. I'll need you to deal with our room service now. I'd like to rest in the room and don't want to be disturbed," and at that, Andy followed her toward the exit.

The two were quite in the hallway, and when they got on the elevator, Andy asked, "Well?"

Sharon sighed, turning toward him, "He wouldn't go for the bar this evening. He's forward and asked if I was coming to his room or if he was coming to mine, and you can't be there."

Andy's eyebrows shot up, "What did you tell him?"

"He's coming to our room, 9:00," she explained.

"What!" he exclaimed. "That's not safe! Where am I supposed to be?"

She sighed, looking to him, "Andy," she lowered her voice, "I'm a trained police officer. I can handle this, and we both know the room will be all setup with cameras, and I'm sure everyone will be setup just down the hall. I don't seem him as that kind of danger. Maybe a wine con artist, yes, but not violent. I think he's more interested in getting me into bed than anything else," she rolled her eyes.

Andy narrowed his eyes, "I don't like this, Sharon. Chief," he said, knowing the team could hear everything, "what's the plan? I'm assuming our room service will be arriving soon."

The elevator opened, and the two arrived at their room. Once they were inside, Andy continued, "Sharon, you invited a suspected criminal to this room! Alone! You have no idea what he could do when he is up here. The bar was a much safer option."

"I can handle this, Andy! Trust me to do my job. I trust you to do yours," she told him.

"And, just where does this dirt bag think I'm going to be?" he asked.

She gave him a look, "I made it sound like you would be out on the prowl yourself tonight. I wanted him to think we each do our own thing."

"Just great, Sharon," he nodded. "I'm supposed to be a total dirt bag myself, sleeping my way through the hotel, while you have another man to our room. Great undercover assignment," he sighed.

A knock at the door had both glancing toward it. Andy put up his hand and moved toward it. "Room Service," they both heard, dropping their guard.

"Ahh, good afternoon, Sir, Ma'am," Julio smiled as he entered. Andy closed the door, and Julio dropped the formalities. "Okay, here's lunch," he nodded to them, "but, I have other information for you. Drinks later in the bar with the first vendor, that is set," he nodded. "We'll be your eyes and ears there. Ma'am, Chief wanted to see if you are okay with the plans for later this evening, here in the room. SIS said they can get the room outfitted this afternoon and setup down the hall. If you aren't okay with it, we need to come up with another plan."

"I'm fine with it," Sharon waved him off. "I wouldn't have gone along if I hadn't been."

"Just where am I supposed to be during all this?" Andy jumped in.

"I guess down the hall with the rest of us, Sir," Julio added.

"Andy, you can't be here. He won't get anywhere with you here-" she started to say, but was cut off.

"Oh, he won't get anywhere with you without me here, either," Andy snarled. "He's not going to touch you, Sharon. First sign of anything, and that operation is over."

"Sir," Julio jumped in again, "Chief asked me to assure you both they wouldn't let anything happen to the captain. She will be watched, and we'll move in if anything gets out of hand."

"Besides," Sharon turned to Andy, "as he just said, you'll be just down the hall. Try to keep the macho behavior in check. I'll be fine."

Andy turned back to Julio, "I guess things are a go, then. What else?"

"Oh, your server downstairs, Amy. She's one of Lieutenant Cooper's people from SIS," he told them. Both nodded, acknowledging his statement.

"Chief said to continue on as you have been. We are all over the hotel, so we'll get to the bottom of this. Captain, we'll keep you safe," he smiled.

"Very good," she nodded. "Thank you, Julio, although, I am a bit surprised you chief doesn't want to feed me to the wolves." Julio grinned at that, but Andy sighed.

"I'll be going, but Chief also said to tell you good work so far. She believes it's one, if not both the men who you are meeting today."

Once Julio left, Andy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He looked to Sharon who was standing there, arms crossed, in deep thought.

"What?" he asked. "What's the problem?"

Sharon glared at him, "Why is it that you don't think I can handle this? I'm a detective, just as you are. I just happen to work in a different division."

"I am fully aware you are capable! I don't like any guy coming into a hotel room alone with a woman. I never like seeing these operations. Too many ways it can go badly and quickly."

Sharon sighed as she shook her head, "Look, it's going to happen. It's been signed off by the chief. Can we just take a moment to sit and eat? I'm starving now."

"Fine," he waved her off. He walked to the food, showing two plates of salads again, along with fruit, as well as soup. "Soup, salad, and fruit," he looked to her. She nodded, and the two got situated to eat their lunch.

"Sorry about earlier," he told her after they had started eating. She raised her eyebrows to him in question, and he continued, "You know, Andy, that guy, asked me how we met. I know we discussed you taking the lead on any backstory."

Sharon nodded, putting down her spoon, "It's fine," she said flatly. "That is how we met. I would have told the same story. Again, it's easier to stick as close to the truth as possible. It was a long time ago, Andy."

"Yeah," he let off a slight chuckle. "It was. I'm just glad I didn't go into more detail about how we met that day."

She looked up at him, her head turned as she thought. She smiled then, "Oh, that I started talking to you because you were in your police uniform?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Didn't think adding that in would help. Kind of give us away," he smiled.

"Hmm, yes," she nodded, thinking back. "I remember waiting there with my cart of yogurt and granola bars-the typical college dorm room food," she smiled. "I was just glad to have a mini-fridge in my room for all the yogurt I ate."

"You lived on yogurt then," he chuckled. Sharon nodded.

"Yes, but that day, I remember being so irritated that I was next in line, and the power went out in the store. I stood there, trying to decide what to do, but I didn't know anywhere else close to campus. That store was just a block away from my dorm room," she added.

"Yeah, and my apartment was a block in the opposite direction, just off campus. After graduating from USC, you know I decided to enter the police academy, and well," he shrugged, "on a new cop's salary, a run-down apartment near campus was the best I could do."

"Hmm," she nodded. "Well, that turned out to be a good location for you." She started to eat her soup, thinking back to their first interaction. She was about ready to leave that grocery store, but she really wanted to buy her food. The dining hall wasn't the best. Her roommate seemed to have opposite taste in food, the room stocked with potato chips and junk food. Sharon was much more health conscious and proud of herself for finding a nearby grocery store in a large, new city. She turned around in line, still annoyed about the power.

 _"Oh, Officer… Officer Flynn," she nodded to the man after inspecting his nametag. "I'd offer to let you go in front of me, but with no power, no one is checking out."_

 _He grinned, sticking out his hand, "It's no problem, Miss. Drop the formality. My name is Andy."_

 _"Nice to meet you, umm, Andy," she smiled. "Seems weird to say that to an officer in uniform."_

 _He shrugged, "I'm just starting out, still in the academy. We haven't had our uniforms that long," he grinned. "And, I'm still just a guy."_

 _"Oh," she smiled, "well, congratulations on starting out. The uniform is nice," she added. "Good luck to you."_

 _"Thanks," he smiled back at her. "Are you a student at USC?"_

 _She nodded, "I am. Freshman," she shrugged. "I just moved out here from Connecticut."_

 _"Really, Connecticut? Long way from home. What's your major?" he asked._

 _"Pre-law," she replied. "I wanted to get away from the East Coast, make a name for myself. I come from a family of lawyers, and I wanted to break the tradition of the same college and law school. I like it here so far."_

 _"Well, that's ambitious. I was a criminal justice major myself," he added._

 _"Oh," she was a bit startled. "You went to college?" He gave her an odd look, and she continued, "I'm sorry. Forgive me. I didn't realize you'd gone to college."_

 _"I did," he nodded. "USC as well, so I know the school. Yeah, it's not required to go to college, but more and more, departments are looking for officers to have training. I want to be a detective, so I knew college would be important."_

 _"Very interesting," she smiled. "So, you enjoyed USC?"_

 _"I did," he nodded. "Just graduated, so if you like, I can show you around sometime? I promise, I'm one of the good guys," he grinned. "I mean, the city trusts me enough to put me in uniform."_

 _Sharon's eyes shot up, "Oh, well, um," she stammered._

 _"Come on," he encouraged. "Look, would you like to go to get something to eat? It doesn't have to be tonight, seeing as how you have dinner plans with that yogurt," he nodded to her. "I'll take you to one of my favorite local places. Harmless," he raised his hands in defense._

 _"Well," she said, feeling her face get flush._

 _"Oh, boyfriend?" he asked._

 _"No!" she exclaimed, a bit too quickly. She took a quick breath and continued, "No, no boyfriend," she smiled. "Sure, I'd love to go to dinner."_

"Sharon?" she heard, snapping out of her memory. She looked up to see Andy staring back at her, the Andy of now, not the young Officer Flynn of her memory. Amazingly, she was sitting here in this room, still looking at the same person, all these years later.

"What's that? I'm sorry," she waved her hand.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Just seeing if you were okay."

"I'm fine," she added. "Just earlier brought back a lot of memories," she shrugged.

"For me too," he said gruffly. "This whole undercover thing," he shook his head, "I knew it wasn't a good idea."

"Yes," she said flatly, "I'd prefer the memories just stay dead and buried."

His eyes flew up to meet hers, "Funny, because I have the opposite in mind. I want to continue hashing this out and know why when you dumped me, you ran right to Jack, some dirt bag you'd only just met? All these years, and we've still never discussed Jack."


	8. Chapter 8

Sharon's eyes met his, and she closed them trying to gather her strength. When she opened them again, green eyes met brown, the brown eyes wanting answers after almost 30 years of questions.

She sighed, putting down her napkin, "Andy," she sighed again, shaking her head, almost not wanting to get into it again. "Fine. Andy, I still can see that night. It's one I can't seem to forget," she offered a small smile. "We'd dated almost three years, all of my freshman, sophomore, and junior year."

"I know; I was there," he added softly, trying to not get angry. "You were my world, Sharon. I thought I was yours. I never expected to find you," he sighed. "I was 22, out of college. I'd spent four years IN college trying to find the right girl. Sure, you know, I went on a few dates here and there, but I hadn't found anyone serious. I hadn't dated anyone seriously since I'd been in California, and in one chance encounter in a grocery store, you took my breath away. We fit, and yes, I know we were young. You were 18, Sharon. I remember, but even at 18, you seemed to have more maturity than anyone I'd met. I had graduated and never expected to find love in an 18-year-old bossy," he eyed her, and she managed a small smile, "East Coast girl, woman," he corrected himself. "You were set in your ways, a good thing," he added. "That was something I admired. You were upfront and honest with me from the start about your faith, your standards, your expectations, and over the next three years, I fell more and more in love with you. Honestly, after all that time and all the things we had discussed, the future we both seemed to want, proposing to you seemed like the next logical step. In my mind, I knew what a planner you were, and you were already starting to look at law schools, trying to decide where to go. I didn't want to hinder you, but I wanted to be part of the process. Even then, you wanted me part of the process; we'd discussed a future. I proposed to you at the end of your junior year so you would have time to figure out your future, our future. By then, I'd finished my probationary period with the LAPD and told you I'd move anywhere with you. With your morals and values, I knew you wouldn't do that unless we were married. I thought it was the right time; it would have given you senior year to plan for law school and plan our wedding. Instead, that night, right after your last exam junior year, things collapsed, and I still, even all these years later, don't understand it. You said no. You said you wanted to break up instead of even continuing to date. You said it was over. I felt blind sighted because I thought we were on the same page."

Sharon looked up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She looked at Andy, meeting his brown eyes again, "I panicked," she shrugged. "All these years later, that is all I can say. I loved you more than I could have ever imagined. I shouldn't have broken things off. Honestly, I should have married you. I wasn't worried about being too young, obviously," she rolled her eyes. "I should not have had doubts, if that's even what they were. I wasn't feeling confined or tied down by you. I just panicked. I loved you more than anything, Andy, and once I realized it, you were already with Sandra."

Andy's eyes flew open, "What are you talking about? I didn't start dating her for almost another year!"

This time, it was Sharon's turn to look at him with a questioning glance, "You proposed to me the last week of April that year. I ended up catching a flight to Connecticut that next week to just get away for a couple weeks, before summer school and my internship started. When I returned, the end of May, I went right to your place from the airport. I'd caught an early flight, and it got me into LA early that morning. When I got to your building, Sandra was coming out of your apartment, EARLY," Sharon said. "I only knew who she was back then because I remembered she was one of your neighbors in the building. Andy, we hadn't been broken up a month yet, and you were sleeping with her!" Sharon seethed. "To think that all that time, you said you respected me and were okay with my wanting to wait until I was married before sleeping with anyone," she shook her head. "It was very clear that as soon as I was out of the way, you were cleared to sleep around again."

Andy stood, dripping with anger, "I wasn't sleeping with her! How could you even think that? Did you think I was that shallow? You think that after three years with you, respecting you, your faith, that I'd do that? My goodness, Sharon! You just left then? You didn't even come by that morning? If you had, you would have found out you were very, very wrong! She was by that morning because of school! Remember, she was a teacher? I only remember this all because it was the first time I had been asked to speak at a school career day! She had stopped by with coffee and muffins as a thank-you and to go over the morning's schedule. That was it! Honestly, that was our first step at becoming friends. She'd seen me in the building in my uniform and asked if I'd talk to her class. After that, it took me months to even ask her out. She was kind and knew I'd been through a mess with you. I never went into details, but that was it. My goodness, sleeping with her!"

"Andy! I saw her! She was putting her jacket on when she came into the hallway. I don't think she saw me, but she was leaving your apartment!" Sharon stammered.

"Sharon, you dated me for three years. Can you really believe I would be that shallow? Call Sandra yourself. She'll tell you. It was almost a year later before we officially started dating. By then, we'd gotten to know each other-as friends, which is why we didn't date that long before we got married. My cousins, they tried to set me up with anyone and everyone. You remember them, the whole reason I even moved to California for college. Two were in college there, and another two had become LAPD police officers. I joined my cousins out here, and we were very close back then. You know that was the only reason my mom was okay with me going so far away to college-I was going to be with my cousins, same school, and then even the same profession. They hated seeing me moping around and tried to get me to date anyone. Sandra and I started dating after I finally forced myself to move on after repeatedly seeing you with Jack. Then, when we finally did start dating, we'd already been friends a year, so it didn't seem like we were jumping into marriage. Truth be told, by then, I was fearful of rejection again. I had already tried the long-term dating with you, and I was afraid to invest years and years again to be turned down. Yeah, I was dumb for thinking that, and that shouldn't have been the reason I married, but it was. Obviously, it wasn't a good thing because I was still in love with you, and yes, I realize that now."

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick," Sharon stood, bracing her hands on the chair in front of her, looking down.

"Why, Sharon? What exactly were you going to come and tell me?" he asked, waiting for her gaze to meet his. She briefly met his gaze and looked away. "You say you were coming to talk to me, but obviously it couldn't have been important enough to fight for me. You said you loved me then, but you threw away what we had because of assumptions? Sharon, you knew me better than that."

"I was going to apologize and ask if we could at least talk. I wasn't sure I wanted to get engaged that second, but after spending two weeks back home, I realized my life was in LA, with you. I was planning to tell you that I was going to try and go to law school there in LA to stay near you, and that we could revisit our future down the road. I had realized that eventually, yes, I wanted to marry you, but I needed to finish school and start law school first. When I saw Sandra leaving your place, I told myself it was over. I told myself that I couldn't go back to a man who had discarded three years like that, so I left your building."

"So, tell me," he snarled at her, "how many days later did you meet Jack?"

She met his gaze, "I met him that same morning, Andy. He was moving into your building to get ready to start law school."

Andy shook his head, "The building that I now loathe," he sighed. "The building were all our dreams died."

Sharon sighed, shaking her head. "I was leaving your building after seeing Sandra leaving your place. I ran into Jack. He and his dad were unloading his U-Haul trailer. I actually ran into him, and he knocked me down. I wasn't watching where I was going; I was upset, and he had a stack of boxes and couldn't see around them. After he helped me up, he apologized and introduced himself. Somehow, during the small talk, it came up he was starting law school. I told him I still had another year to go, and well," she shrugged, "he didn't know anyone in town. I agreed to give him a tour around campus, and while I wasn't looking for anyone at the time, Jack wormed his way in."

"Did he ever,' Andy sighed, rubbing his face over his hand. "I've always assumed you didn't think I was good enough for you. Just a cop, that's what I though you had decided. Found yourself a lawyer and man, that was more what you wanted. Sharon, I thought I knew you, and then you threw away what we had, so I started doubting everything. I started thinking of why you'd just leave me for a guy like Jack. Believe me, I saw that dirt bag in the building sometimes, even back then coming and going all hours of the night. By the time I saw you with him in the building-and you didn't see me, it was too late. One of the best days I ever had at the LAPD was the day I drove by that building and saw it had been torn down. How can one person have so many great memories and still hate a place all at the same time? What are the odds, anyway? I lived there, Sandra lived there, and Jack lived there-oh wait, you too after you married the dirt bag. Want to tell me how, after graduating from college then, just a year later, when I thought you and I would be getting married, you got married alright, but to Jack?"

* * *

 **So, before any "They wouldn't act like that," comments...it's a story, people. Chill. Just exploring a story idea that someone asked me to write. I'm trying to tie a world of "coincidences" into the "what could have been" for Sharon and Andy. Chance meetings, young love, mishaps that caused years of heartache...**


	9. Chapter 9

"Obviously, running from you was the start of a string of bad decisions," Sharon continued. After I met Jack, I almost threw myself into that relationship to try and forget you," she looked at Andy. Their eyes met, and the sadness could be seen in both of them. "Andy, Jack wasn't you," she shrugged. "I loved Jack or so I thought, but looking back now, nothing like I had loved you. It was different with Jack. I loved him, but I'm not sure I was in love with him, and maybe I was, but I'm so distorted with what happened to our marriage, it's almost difficult to figure this out now after everything. I met up with Jack that next day to simply show him around campus. I wasn't looking for more; I was still a mess over you. Then, the internship where I was filing in that lawyer's office, of course," she rolled her eyes, "turned out to be where Jack was assigned as a first year law student to shadow. I have a feeling he did some trading around to get that assignment, knowing I was working there, but he'll never admit it. We started running into each other there that fall, early that fall, and well," she sighed, shaking her head, "he's charming-WAS charming, and I was just still a mess over what I'd thrown away with you. Jack asked me out three times before I said yes," Sharon explained. "He was persistent," she nodded, "in more ways than one. He waited until our third date until he tried to sleep with me."

"That scum didn't hurt you, did he? Sharon, I swear!" Andy bellowed at hearing that, knowing that Sharon would have been upfront with Jack about her faith as she had been with Andy. He stood, almost like he expected to punch Jack right then and there.

"Andy," she nodded, raising her hand, "It's fine. I'm a big girl, and no, he didn't. I wouldn't have married him," she sighed. "No, I wouldn't sleep with him then. I told him my expectations, and he was upfront with me and said while he respected that, he didn't want to wait years. At the time, I didn't see it as an ultimatum, but looking back, that is what it was. We had this whirlwind romance, full of passion because Jack wanted what he couldn't have," she shook her head. "He wasn't you Andy. Yes, the relationship you and I had was full of passion, but you never pushed me, never forced my hand. You respected me, and at the time with Jack, I didn't see it. For some reason, and most likely because he's good at manipulating people, I was doing everything I could to hold onto him and keep him. I thought it was some crazy love, but it wasn't. He's a manipulator, always has been and always will be. I just didn't see it. It was a complete rebound thing, and as book smart as I might be, I failed miserably in the relationship department. My parents were shocked when at Christmas, I brought him home to meet them. They'd heard about you for years, met you, and suddenly, here's Jack, a guy I'm telling them I'm in love with, and I'm not telling you this all now to hurt you, Andy," Sharon said, noting Andy was ready to blow. He was angry, hurt, and frustrated, all emotions he was wearing clearly right now. "My parents sat me down at Christmas and tried to talk me out of things with Jack. I know they could see it, but I was 21, almost 22, and what could they tell me? They even told me they could see I wasn't in love with Jack like I had been with you, but I wouldn't listen. We came back from Christmas and continued full speed ahead. My grades even slipped that last year, not that they were bad," she offered a small smile. "I just didn't get the 4.0 GPAs like I had done when we were dating, and you were helping me study and making sure I did well. I got almost all B's that last year. That should have been enough of a warning," she shook her head. "I didn't care. I was hooked by Jack. He was doing okay in law school, but as we both know, he also has a lot of natural ability. He, like me, could have done better, I know. That spring, I got into law school here in LA, but I didn't get any of the scholarships I had wanted. I did get into law school on the East Coast too, my dad's old school. I hadn't really wanted to go there, but my dad had encouraged me to apply. I don't think I would have if you and I had been together. I think it was an attempt to get me away from Jack. Anyway, I did get in and was offered a lot of scholarship money due to my grades and I'm sure my father. It came with a working internship too, which was really appealing. In my string of bad decisions, I turned it down because it meant leaving Jack. My parents were furious, but I didn't want to leave Jack in LA. With the expensive tuition bill that I couldn't ask my parents to foot after turning down a scholarship elsewhere, Jack and I started talking. That's when we came up with our plan. We decided to get married, and Andy, that's where I want you to understand that I wasn't against marrying you. When you proposed to me, I just panicked, pure and simple. It was always you, but in my stupid, stupid string of decisions, marrying Jack sounded like a good idea."

Sharon took a deep breath, her arms now crossed, and she turned and walked to the windows. Andy was behind her, across the room. She could see him in the reflection of the glass, and he had his head bowed, shaking it.

"What makes it even worse," Sharon shook her head as she looked out the windows. She couldn't face Andy for this part. "When I was divorcing Jack, he admitted that he had started cheating on me while we were dating. He said that he'd had a couple of one-night stands because I wouldn't have sex with him until we were married. Andy, I knew he'd started cheating on me while we were married, but that about sunk me. Just when I thought Jack couldn't get any worse, he had to hurt me again. Divorcing him was the first right decision I've made in a very, very long time."

"What I don't understand is how you got so far from one idea to the other. You went from not wanting to marry me, to be independent as you always had been, set on maintaining your 4.0 GPA for law school, to jumping into a relationship with Jack of all people, apparently letting your grades slip, and marrying a guy you hadn't even dated a year, a total scum as you now acknowledge who cheated on you over and over. What happened, Sharon?" he asked. "I had been none of that!"

She turned back to face him, arms still crossed, "Pure panic again, yet for the wrong reasons. I'd turned down a perfectly good East Coast law school with costs covered to stay in LA and be with Jack. We got to talking about the expense. I'd seen how he had to struggle with bills, and he did have help from his parents. I couldn't ask mine for help. They were so disappointed, and looking back, they would have helped me. I was just too stubborn. Jack suggested we live together, move in together," she shook her head. "Again, he was focused on getting me into bed. I refused that, saying I wasn't living with a man unless I was married to him, so in the long list of stupid decisions, he threw out the most unromantic proposal, absolutely the opposite of yours. Andy, you did a perfect job, and I was stupid. Jack and I were just sitting on his couch, and he turned and just said, 'Let's do it then.' I wasn't even sure what the 'let's do it' was in particular. I figured he was talking about sex again, but he wasn't, at least not directly. He said we should just get married, and that would help a lot of our financial issues, and of course at the time, would give him what he wanted-me in bed with him and a way to cover his schooling expenses. We came up with the dumb idea of my getting a job while he finished. I initially thought I could get a job at the law firm where I'd done an internship, but they just didn't have openings. I had a vast knowledge of the LAPD from someone," she looked up, her eyes meeting Andy's, "and that's where the idea to join the force came into play. I knew it was decent money, good benefits, and I figured it would be a good thing to use for law school, the legal side. Jack was against the idea at first until I showed him all the benefits and salary I could make. It wasn't much, as you know, but it was a lot better than what I would have made as a law clerk. So, that's what we did. I told my parents we were getting married, I was putting law school on hold, and they were furious. They couldn't believe it, and to make matters worse, they couldn't believe that I didn't want to come home for a wedding. It was bad enough I was rushing into a marriage, and then I threw it in their face by hurrying with a wedding to Jack in LA. I really disappointed them on so many fronts. They always liked you; they have always hated Jack," she enunciated his name, shaking her head. "I wouldn't listen. Instead, we talked to the priest here, and again, I can't explain the rush, other than I was stupid, and Jack convinced me it was a good idea. My parents flew out for the wedding only because they have pure, unconditional love, but it was a very simple service in the church. No grand wedding, no big party, just our families," she sighed. "As you know, that was not what I'd wanted either. I always imagined a really happy affair with a beautiful dress, and I convinced myself Jack was enough. Ironically, our honeymoon was to Vegas," she laughed. "Vegas, can you imagine? Jack's favorite and oh, so lucky city. Oh, I was so stupid. Jack said he could get us a great suite from a buddy, and he did, but I'm sure it was from some gambling friend. He played some poker back then, not like he is into gambling now, but it always has to start somewhere. Vegas," she sighed, "not my best decision again. We were only in his apartment in that building another week before we moved elsewhere. I couldn't stay there, Andy. I knew you were still there, or so I suspected."

He huffed, "The one time I saw you with Jack, then, I'm guessing you were already married? You two were heading into the building when I was pulling in from work."

"Probably," she shrugged. "If it was that summer, yes. I didn't live with him or stay with him before we were married. I was firm on that."

"I didn't really know Jack then, but I had seen him come in late at night. Even without knowing him, I hadn't really thought the guy was a good one. Then, I got the good news at work that fall," he sighed, rubbing his hand over his face again. I had just passed my detective exam and was asked to come and speak to the cadets. Imagine my surprise to see you," he huffed. "Then, when I tried to look you up to see what your deal was with becoming an officer, I couldn't find you because silly me-I didn't realize you'd changed your name because oh, you hadn't married me that summer, but Jack!"

"I know!" Sharon exclaimed. "Can you imagine my surprise, sitting in one of my normal classes, to see you enter the room. Andy, I wanted to crawl in a hole!"

"Well, you certainly managed to dodge me that day. My goodness, Sharon, you couldn't even be an adult to speak to me! You ran out of that room like something was on fire. I had to do some digging to figure out you had gotten married. The name thing didn't add up, and it didn't help there was another Sharon in your class," he sighed. "What a mess."

Sharon looked up at Andy, "You were dating Sandra by then, correct? All this time, I thought you had been dating her much longer than that, longer than I'd been with Jack."

"I was," he nodded. "It was going pretty well. She was never you," he added. "We started dating that spring, and we got engaged at Christmas. After seeing you married, well, I knew I had to move on. We got married that next spring, and by the summer, she was pregnant with Nicole."

Sharon nodded, "I got pregnant with Emily that fall then after Sandra, which as you know, the girls are the same age. Jack and I had just been married a year, and he was starting his third year of law school. That wasn't the plan, but I should have learned that with Jack, he makes his own plans. The plan was always for him to finish, for me to go to school, and then to have kids. I had just reapplied to school," she shook her head. "I found out I was pregnant with Emily a week after I sent out all my applications," she sighed. "You know my kids are my world, but that derailed all my plans. Jack had already started drinking too much, having fun with the guys, as he would tell me. He liked to bring that fun home, which I quickly discovered I didn't enjoy a drunk Jack. So, I decided to forgo law school again, and once again, my parents were furious. They were happy about a baby, I guess, even if it was with Jack, and of course, once she was born, they were the doting grandparents," she smiled, "but, they knew my plans were never going to get back on track. So, I had her, and after another year, when I was eligible to take the detective exam I did to get a better job. Once I passed that, we decided to have Ricky. In my string of bad decisions, I thought another baby would keep Jack at home. It didn't," she shook her head. "You're right that I tried to keep it from the department. No one needed to know my sad home story. I transferred to Internal Affairs when Ricky was six months old because Jack had left. I had told my commanding officer I needed something safe and stable because I was now a single parent. That's where Internal Affairs came in, and here we are," she gestured. "That's the story, Andy. I know we've never hashed it out, but there it is for you."

Andy paced the room, just shaking his head. Sharon stood, rooted to her spot, her arms still crossed in a defensive manner. She didn't know what to say either. This whole undercover thing had become a mess, and that mess had nothing to do with the actual case. Now that they had hashed out things, Sharon wasn't sure what their next step would be. Hopefully, now that the air had been cleared a little, they could stop yelling at each other at work. She was about to ask about that, but Andy spoke first.

"Do you still love me, Sharon?" Andy asked. Sharon's head whipped up to face him, a look of surprise on her face. That was not the question she had expected. "You heard me," he replied. "Do you still love me?"

Sharon looked heavenward, taking a deep breath. She couldn't look to him, "Andy, I don't think-" she was cut off by the door.

"Room service," they both heard. Andy smacked his hand on the nearby table, frustrated at the interruption, and he stood. He tried to get Sharon to look at him, and she just shook her head and looked away. He could tell she looked like she was now crying. She disappeared into the bathroom while Andy went to the door.

"Afternoon, Sir. I've come to retrieve your lunch cart," Julio started, and Andy opened the door to him to enter. When Andy closed the door, Julio continued, "I've got some information for this afternoon. Where's the Captain? Chief wants to go over the plans again."


	10. Chapter 10

"Sir, do you keep the captain locked in the bathroom?" Julio chuckled, as he looked around the room. "Most of the times I've stopped in here, she's in the bathroom. Sir, I get it you two don't get along, but you don't have to lock her in the bathroom."

"Yeah, yeah, funny guy," Andy waved. "She'll be out in a minute. Women," he shook his head, "always in the bathroom, I guess. She's not feeling the best, didn't sleep well as you remember," he flashed a grin to Julio, and Julio chuckled. Andy was trying to shake off the last hour or so of intense conversation. He and Sharon still hadn't finished; that he was sure. She had dodged the big question he'd left for her to answer, but they couldn't deal with that now. They had a case to solve, and until they did, they were going to be stuck in these closed quarters. He wasn't sure they could handle that much longer. He almost found it hard to believe after all these years, after almost 30 years, that they'd finally talked. He had to admit Sharon's explanation was not at all what he had predicted. He had spent years and years analyzing things, never concluding that she'd thought about coming back to him, admitting she'd made a mistake, only to think he was sleeping with Sandra. She'd changed her mind," he shook his head. "She had decided she wanted a future with him, but she ran when she thought it was too late. 30 years of mistakes, and here they were finally talking. He'd always assumed that deep down, she couldn't marry a police officer. She was going to be a successful lawyer and sought that out with Jack. What he hadn't been able to put his finger on, though, was why SHE had become a police officer and had not gone to law school. He knew she'd had the kids early on, and as always, life happens. Finally, he'd gotten some answers.

"Sir? Are you okay?" Julio asked with a confused expression. He'd said a few things to Andy without a response.

"Yeah," Andy snapped out of it. "It's been a crazy day or so, stuck here in the hotel with this operation. Just ready to be done, I guess," he sighed.

"Detective," Sharon called to Julio as she came out of the bathroom. She'd changed into her outfit for the afternoon and freshened her makeup, Andy noticed. She looked stressed still, but better than she had a few minutes prior. Andy groaned at the sight. She now had on a light, knee-length sundress, lilac in color, he knew, her favorite color. It was a perfect "Sharon" outfit, one he would have seen in a store and thought of her. He had to admit, light lilac might just be HIS favorite color.

"Captain," he nodded. "I'll be brief, and then chief asked if you two would make yourselves visible around the hotel, mingle with the guests for this wine event and finally make your way to the bar area. Chief wants you to talk to the others to see if you get any information from them.

"Okay," Sharon nodded. "I think we are feeling a bit cooped up here anyway," she tried to flash a small smile, but Andy could tell it was forced.

"Chief also said they'd have people in the bar and around the hotel, but this afternoon is for your intel. If you need anything, you can find us. You can always call for room service, and I'll be here," he grinned. "You know, Lieutenant," he turned to Andy, "most staff get a tip when they provide services," he flashed a big smile and stuck out his hand. Andy rolled his eyes and swatted him away.

"I'll give you a big tip," Andy groaned. "Go before I tell the captain here all the different ways you've roughed up suspects." Andy grinned at Julio, and Julio just nodded.

"No tip needed, Sir. I serve with pleasure," and he was gone with the food cart.

Once he had left, Andy turned to Sharon and saw she was messing with her clutch. She looked at him, barely meeting his eyes, "Ready to go, then?"

"How can you just jump back into the case?" he exclaimed, irritated that she was able to flip a switch with her emotions.

"We have a job to do," she said, closing her clutch and walking toward the door. "This isn't about us. What happened 30 years ago isn't going to change now, and we do have a thief or even thieves to catch. You need to compartmentalize, Andy. Right now, we are back in work mode. Can you handle this?"

"You're asking me?" he said. "Of course I can! I've had to handle things for 30 years, keep a lid on my emotions," he exclaimed again. He was agitated and probably would be the rest of the day. Sharon was right though, not that he could let her know that. He needed to compartmentalize, and right now, she was doing a better job of it than he was. She'd also had a few moments alone in the bathroom to regroup, time he hadn't had, and maybe that was his problem. He needed to check his attitude and get back to work. He'd make sure they finished their conversation later.

Their assignment was to mingle with the guests and see what intel they could get on the wines and vendors. The two took the elevator to the lobby area, the first time they had been out of the general area of their room or the vendor displays. They were quiet in the elevator, both looking at their own feet. As they got off the elevator, Andy offered his arm to Sharon, and she eyed him.

He shrugged, "We're supposed to be a happily married couple, Dear," he said through gritted teeth. "People who like each other want to be close," he said as he offered his arm again. Sharon gave a slight roll of the eyes and roped her arm through his, surveying the lobby.

"Where to?" she asked, again looking around at everyone and everything.

"Let's head over there," he slightly guided her to a grouping of couches were people were sampling wines while sitting around talking. The two quickly were offered space to sit on one of the couches. It wasn't a lot of room, and Andy found himself sitting much closer to Sharon than she probably wanted. He didn't mind, and she was expressionless.

After brief introductions, they started to chat with the couples sitting across from them.

"We're just so excited to be here," the one woman said. "I'm of the mindset, go big or go home," she smiled, "so, we are splurging on a couple of bottles."

Sharon tried the wine that was offered, the one that was supposed to be one of the expensive ones. It was good, but she was starting to wonder if this was on that had been switched. She filed that away for later. After a half hour or so of mingling, Andy looked to Sharon, "Care to stretch your legs a bit?"

Sharon just gave a quick nod, "Yes, I could go for a bit of a walk." He helped her up, and the two made their exit after saying good-bye to the others.

They had walked far enough away, Sharon spoke under her breath, "I know I'm not a wine expert, but that one I just had tasted like something in the $20 range from the grocery store." Andy just nodded, as she spoke.

"I hate I can't help you figure this out," he said. "Let's flag down Amy. She's been floating around. You still have that wine?" he asked.

Sharon held up her glass she had carried off with her, and they walked around until they made eye contact with Amy. They flagged her down, and she appeared.

"Are you through with your drink, Ma'am?" she asked.

Sharon put it on her tray, "Indeed I am. This one had a bit of an odd taste," she nodded. Amy returned the nod.

"Sorry to hear that, Ma'am. Can I interest either of you in something else?" she asked.

"We're just going to take a walk around," Andy explained. "Maybe later." Amy walked off, and Sharon and Andy continued to walk around the hotel. "Hey," Andy spoke softly, nudging Sharon. "There's that dirt bag, Brian," he gestured to the other side of the room where Brian was hitting on one of the ladies. There were wine glasses all around. Sharon narrowed in on him, focusing on what he was doing. Andy pulled her around a pillar to get a better view without drawing attention to themselves. The two casually peaked out to check on him. "He's a dirt bag," Andy said again. "He may or may not be our wine smuggler, but he's trying to get the women drunk enough to hit on them. Here he comes," Andy tapped at Sharon's shoulder, turning her around. Her back was now to the pillar, and as Brian walked by, Andy put one hand on the pillar above the side of Sharon's head to somewhat block them from view. Brian turned going toward them, so Andy moved quickly and put his hand on her hip and pulled her in for a kiss. He kept one eye on Brian until he'd walked by with his latest conquest, the woman and Brian, heading toward the elevator. Andy broke the kiss when they'd arrived at the elevator.

"What was that?" Sharon hissed, after he moved back and checked Brian's status again.

"Well, I kissed you," Andy said smugly, giving her a slight shrug with his grin.

"I know that! I was here," Sharon hissed again. "What was going on that you felt the urgency to do that?" She was still against the pillar, now just a few inches from his face. Andy stood rooted in the spot.

"The dirt bag started to walk by with some poor lady," he nodded to the elevators where Brian and the woman were getting on together. "I can only guess where those two are headed," he rolled his eyes, "all the more reason, I don't like the idea of the guy coming up to our room later with you alone there."

"That was all to hide from Brian?" Sharon said, exasperated. Andy studied her, and she was flushed with swollen lips now. He just shrugged again.

"Hey, it worked. He didn't even see us," Andy added.

Sharon scoffed at him, as she put her hand on his chest to push him away, "Can you back up? We have detectives all over the place. Last thing we need is to have them gossiping," she sighed. Andy took a step back, but not so much that he still couldn't speak in a soft voice to her.

"You know," he started, "I could care less what people say. You really are the same way, deep down. You know the entire building talks about you behind your back, and you don't care because you know you are a good cop. Half the building wouldn't believe I kissed you anyway, and I don't know why you are so bothered. It's an undercover operation anyway, easy to explain."

Sharon eyed him, "This is not happening," she gave a nod between them.

Smugly, Andy shrugged, "You didn't seem to mind while we were kissing. You still kiss like I remember, too," he grinned. "Besides, Brian is upstairs getting some action, so, why not enjoy a kiss here while working?"

Sharon stepped out from Andy's proximity, "Don't even start," she shook her head. "We have work to do. Shut down all the little ideas you have there. WE aren't happening," she enunciated. "Let's head to the bar area. It's almost time to meet Thomas," she said over her shoulder now, expecting Andy to catch up to her.

"You know, I can make you uncomfortable all afternoon," he flashed a grin. "You refuse to answer my question from earlier, so I can turn on the husband act like I'm supposed to be playing."

"Andy," she sighed, "just do your job. This assignment was a bad idea on so many levels. I just want to finish this meeting for now and really, finish the case."

"You realize that when we finish meeting with him, we have a lot of free time until Brian's little nightcap with you, right? That's a lot of time to talk," he said.

She stopped, a few feet from the bar area and turned to him, flashing her fake smile, "Let's get through this. I may need some alone time, say in the spa, after this if you can't compartmentalize and get back to work."

"Yes, Dear," he smiled at her, noting she scoffed at him when he said that.

The two got seated at a small table in the bar. It happened to be one of the few booths in the area. Until Brian arrived, Sharon settled in the middle of her seat, giving Andy nowhere else to sit than across from her. He rolled his eyes and sat down. Amy approached their table.

"Can I get you something from the bar?" she asked.

"Could I actually get a cup of tea?" Sharon asked. "We're meeting a wine vendor. Andy?" she closed here eyes and opened them again quickly to see if anyone had noticed her slip. Amy stood there expressionless, and Andy just gave her a glance, "Todd," she said a bit louder, correcting her error.

"I'll have a cranberry and soda," he nodded. "Thanks." Amy returned the nod and went about getting their drinks. "You're distracted," he pointed out. "You never make mistakes."

"Well, dredging up 30 years of memories I'd tried to file away seems to have done that," she sighed.

Andy started again, "This isn't going to be that hard of a case. They are already testing that wine you gave Amy earlier. We'll meet with this guy and get a read on him. The more I see, the more I think our womanizer Brian is just in the wine business to up his game," he shrugged.

"Possibly," Sharon nodded, glad Andy had switched topics. He knew her well, albeit too well to know she needed to focus on the case, "but we can't just rule him out because he's seems to be sleeping with anything who flashes a smile at him. That could very well be how he's able to slip the wine out."

Andy nodded, "True, yes. I guess that is a good point. I still don't' like the idea of you dealing with him alone."

Sharon rolled her eyes, "Andy, give it a rest. I'm a trained detective. I can handle this. You and the rest of the team will be down the hall."

"Can I ask you something?" Andy said, changing the subject. They kept going round and round about Sharon and Brian, and he knew she wasn't going to budge. He had thought getting her mind on work was the answer, but it wasn't helping, so he had a different idea.

"You're going to anyway, no matter what I say, aren't you?" she glanced at him over her glasses. He just gave a small smile; she knew him well, still, too.

"Why did you wait so long to divorce Jack? I know he left when Ricky was a baby, so why wait so long? You waited almost 20 years, Sharon. That's insane. You knew he wasn't coming back."

"We don't have time for this, Andy," Sharon groaned. "We're working."

Andy glanced at his watch, "We're early, and you can answer that or the other question I asked earlier. Your choice. You can't dodge all my questions. I'll make sure to put on quite a show for our fellow officers if you try."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Sharon said, irritated.

"No, it's not blackmail. I just want an answer to a question. This isn't a work question, a personal one. That's not blackmail, Sharon. I want some answers," he pointed out to her.

"Andy, I'm not going-" she started to say, but Andy gave her a look suggesting he meant business. "Fine," she nodded to him. "Sandra threw you out because of your drinking, and it still took you years to get sober. That's something that you can explain. I can't explain it with Jack. Part of it had to do with work. It was always easier to be married at work. People didn't think I was sleeping my way to a promotion. Guys left me alone; I was married. As you know, Jack was good at charming his way back in. He came back multiple times over the years, as you are aware."

"Yeah," Andy scoffed. "I saw him in the building over the years playing his attorney card with suspects. I always cringed when I saw him because if he was back in LA, I had a pretty good idea where he was staying."

Sharon shrugged, "Guilty, but he was my husband. I've grown up a lot over the last few years, Andy," Sharon shook her head. "You want to know the last straw with Jack-we tried to work things out again about 10 years ago. The kids were in high school, Emily getting ready for college. The kids couldn't believe Jack was home again, or really, that I had let him come home again. He started out in the guest room for a few nights, but," she shrugged, "like I said, he was always a charmer. Jack stayed that time for two and a half months," she pursed her lips, looking away.

"So, his leaving was the last straw? Why was it that time, Sharon? He'd done it before, and you had taken him back," Andy pointed out.

Sharon nodded, looking down at her lap, unable to meet Andy's gaze, "I had a miscarriage," she admitted. "Stupid me," she huffed. "I didn't even think about getting pregnant in my 40's. Jack hadn't been around. I wasn't that far along, just six weeks, and with my age and all," she shrugged, "it was difficult, but they always say risks are higher as you are older. Jack left with all that going on, saying he couldn't deal with life. He couldn't deal with life," she repeated, shaking her head. He told me life was too short to be so serious. He wanted a more carefree lifestyle," she sighed. "I often wonder if in his Vegas life, he's "gifted" any other young woman with Little Raydors. Jack certainly likes to have a good time. So, he up and left, leaving me to deal with getting over a miscarriage. Of course, he took all the cash I had, and finally, I was done. I couldn't do it anymore. The kids never knew about the miscarriage, just that his leaving that time was the last straw. I wanted to spare them of the image of what went on to even have a miscarriage, you know, teenagers," she shook her head.

"Sharon, I'm sorry I pried," Andy said, sighing. He seemed to continue to open different cans of worms with every conversation. "I had no idea. Last thing I wanted to do was upset you," he gave her an apologetic smile. "We've had quite the emotional day, not to mention this assignment," he gestured to their surroundings. "Sharon, I feel we've made a lot of progress today, cleared a lot of stagnant air that has been hanging for a very, very long time. I hate seeing you upset."

"I'm okay," Sharon waved off, "or, I'll be okay. It's difficult to think of at times, but Jack leaving was for the best. I needed to move on, divorce him and move on. I would have loved that baby, but," she chuckled, "the idea of my having a 10-year-old now," she shook her head. "Almost crazy."

"Not crazy," Andy smiled. "You have always been a great mom and would have been again. I'm sure she would have been beautiful."

"She?" Sharon asked. "I was just six weeks along."

Andy shrugged, "I envision a mini-Sharon. You've already got your ballerina, and yes, I know, she looks a lot like Jack," he frowned, "beautiful, but still," he made a face that had Sharon give a small smile. "You've got your computer expert, and again, looks too much like Jack," he shook his head. "I think it would have been a girl, a mini Sharon this time. She would have been fantastic," he gave a small smile.

"Your tea," Amy said, putting down the cup. "Thomas is on his way. I just saw him get off the elevator," she told the two. "Sir, your drink," she put down Andy's cranberry soda. They both nodded their thanks to Amy.

"Ahh, Mr. and Mrs. Brock," Thomas greeted them. Sharon stood, "Thomas, thank you for meeting us. Let me move, and you can have my seat," she said as she moved her things out of the booth and slid into the side where Andy was sitting. He shifted too to give Sharon room. Sharon slid in, and Thomas sat down opposite them with a couple of his best wines in tow.

"I like to get right down to business," he smiled. "Time is money," he chuckled. Sharon and Andy glanced at each other, offering a fake chuckle at his poor attempt of a joke.

"You seemed to enjoy these two wines earlier, Mrs. Brock. What questions do you have?" he asked.

"I have a few," Sharon smiled. The trio began talking, letting Thomas explain about the wine. Neither Sharon nor Andy was particularly interested in his presentation because they really needed to figure out if he was the one switching the wine. The presentation was just one of the steps along the way they had to endure. Andy shifted at one point, putting his arm around the back of the booth. Sharon eyed him, and in return, instead of removing his arm, he squeezed her shoulder. He saw her shake her head, possibly slightly annoyed, but she didn't convey it. Andy knew that part of this whole presentation, he and Sharon needed to look like a married couple, so he was fine having his arm back around her.

"I think at the end of the day," Andy cut Thomas off, "my wife is interested in all this, but she, and well, I since I'm the one paying, would like to know what kind of deal you can offer us on your wine?"

"Oh, well, here," he passed a card with the information on it. He'd written down his offer. "I can deliver the case to your room later. This pricing," he pointed, "is for this brand," he gestured to the one on his left, "and, this pricing is for the other."

"Very good," Sharon nodded. "Can we discuss this today and give you an answer in the morning? We still have a few vendors we'd like to address."

"That will be no problem. I'll be back in the vendor room in the morning. I look forward to working with you. This can be something we setup on a regular delivery schedule should you choose. I work with very exclusive wines, and therefore, very exclusive customers. Both are selected carefully," he nodded as he stood. "Have a lovely evening."

Thomas left, and Sharon and Andy were left sitting there. Amy stopped by, "Can I get you anything else?"

"No," Andy nodded, slipping Amy the cards Thomas had just given them, stuck between a wad of bills that would appear to be a tip. "We're on our way out."

"Very well," Amy took the cards and money. "Enjoy your evening."

"Let's get out of here," Andy muttered, as he encouraged Sharon to get out of the booth. She did, and the two started toward the elevators. Sharon didn't' say anything until they were on the elevator.

"Andy, I can't get into another long discussion. I'm emotionally exhausted, and we really need to focus," she explained to him. He just nodded. They remained silent as the elevator moved up, floor by floor. It reached their floor, and Andy pulled out the room card. By his estimate, they would have a bit of time before Julio dropped by. They had given the team some evidence to check on, and he didn't think Julio would drop by until he had something for them.

Andy opened the door for Sharon and followed her in. Sharon dropped her things on the table by the door, and in one swift motion, Andy had her pinned up against the door, kissing her again.

"Andy!" she said when he pulled back for air. "What are you doing?" she hissed again.

"Well, Sharon, it's pretty obvious, even if you might be out of practice," he let out a small chuckle. "You don't want to talk. Fine. I'm all for not talking-many other things we could do. Let me answer the question I asked earlier. You never asked me the same question I asked you, but I'm going to give you an answer. I still love you. I'm not sure I ever stopped loving you, even when my heart was broken, and I tried to get over you, to move on. I've tried to hate you at work only because I'm dying on the inside watching you day after day, wondering what our life could have been like. Part of my guilt all these years is that I know I wasn't fair to Sandra. I never loved her like I love you; I just tried to push your memory away. You don't want to talk. Fine. I'm good with not talking because I'd prefer to do much more of this," he leaned in again, his hands in her hair as he continued to kiss her.


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh my-," Sharon said breathlessly as she pulled her lips from Andy's. She was still pinned against the door. Andy had his arms on her forearms, firm, but was rubbing her shoulders with his thumbs. Sharon couldn't even complete her thoughts, "Why was-," she started to say, but then she plastered her lips back on Andy's, removing her arms from his grip and putting them on his face to kiss him back. It was heated; it was intense. It was a kiss to somehow attempt to kiss away the last 30 years of pain and regret.

The heated kiss continued, each one battling for intensity over the other. Andy now had his hands against the door and was pressed up against Sharon. She had her hands going over his face and hair, both lost in the moment.

Sharon nudged at his leg with hers, and the two began moving backward further into the room. Andy had just about tripped over the corner of the bed, pulling Sharon down with him, as they resumed their kissing, when a knock brought them back to reality. They both froze, Sharon pulling up to look down at Andy beneath her, her hair a mess, as she tried to push it out of the way to meet his eyes. They were both out of breath, red in the face, and disheveled.

"Room service," they heard Julio call from the hallway.

"Son of a!" Andy started to say, but Sharon put her finger to his mouth to quiet him. She rolled off him, and Andy started to sit up.

"I'll get it," Sharon said, trying to catch her breath as she nodded to Andy. "You," she waved, "go."

Andy sighed as he tried to move quickly toward the bathroom. Sharon straightened the bed's comforter and then tried to right her messy hair as she moved to the door. "Coming," she called so that Julio didn't try to enter as she was trying to make herself presentable. In the split seconds she had to go over the last minute's events, she wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that Julio interrupted things. With one last glance in the mirror, she wiped off her smudged lipstick and opened the door.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am,-are you okay?" Julio glanced at her with concern, as he moved into the room. Sharon closed the door and waited to speak until it was closed completely.

Sharon nodded, crossing her arms, as Julio parked the room service cart. She wrapped her hair behind her ear, a nervous trait she couldn't remember the last time she'd done that, but of course, she'd done a few things in the last few minutes she couldn't remember the last time she'd done. "I'm fine," she waved him off. "I was resting," she said, trying to give a decent explanation to her appearance, state of the bed, and overall mental status.

"Where's the Lieutenant?" he said looking around.

Sharon looked around like she was surprised to not see him, "I guess the bathroom," she nodded to the closed door. "Like I said, I was resting. I must have dozed off," she shrugged.

"You sure you're okay, Ma'am?" he asked, eyeing her. "You two and that bathroom," Julio chuckled. "I swear you must take turns locking yourself in there so you don't have to face the other." Sharon let out a nervous laugh, fiddling with her hair again.

"Julio," Andy opened the door and stepped out. Sharon looked to him over Julio's turned shoulder giving him a questioning glance, wondering if he was now okay. He didn't meet her gaze; that was probably for the best. He looked disheveled and was still a bit flushed. Sharon hoped he'd been able to calm himself down.

"Sir, just brought you something to drink and an early light dinner, really. Chief asked me to let you both know that Captain, you were right. That wine you had was not the expensive stuff as you thought. Looks like we are on the right track. Now, that wine can't be directly linked to Brian yet. He could always shrug it off, saying that he wasn't aware the wines had been switched or the hotel staff had done it by mistake, but Chief thinks he's our guy. The guy, Thomas, from earlier today, he's looking more and more like a regular vendor."

"Okay," Sharon nodded, still a bit shaken with the events of just a few minutes prior. "So, are we still on for this evening?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Julio nodded. "That was the other thing. Chief wanted me to confirm that and tell you they will be setup across the hall. That room is vacant. Lieutenant," he turned to Andy, who was still flushed, "Chief wants you in the room with us."

"I'm still not okay with the idea of leaving her alone in here with some guy who is an apparent criminal!" he exclaimed.

Sharon turned and glared at him, "Andy, we've talked about this. I'll be fine. We have jobs to do this evening. End of discussion," she enunciated, crossing her arms and turning back to Julio. "Anything else, Detective?"

"No, Ma'am. Lieutenant," he turned to Andy again, "Chief said the room will be setup by 8:30 and asked for you to come there then. Oh, and they got your room all hooked up with video and sound while you were downstairs just now."

Sharon's eyes grew wide, trying to look beyond Julio to catch Andy's gaze. He must have heard Julio too because he turned and looked away, scratching his head.

"Ahh, Julio, when is that live?" Andy started his nervous chuckle. Sharon was turning red; she could feel it. "Don't like the idea of you know," he gestured, "Big Brother watching us or something."

"I'm not sure, but probably live now. I just don't know if anyone is monitoring it yet. No reason to at the moment, Sir, but just be aware as you move about the room. They put cameras there, there, and there," he added, pointing around the room. "It will be taken down this evening after the operation."

"Okay, then," Sharon nodded, completely mortified and in a rush to get Julio out of the room. "Thank you, Detective," she nodded to him, walking to the door. Julio got the hint, nodding to Andy and following Sharon to the door.

"Ma'am," he nodded to her. "Good luck this evening."

"Thank you," she nodded to him and shut the door quickly. She turned back to Andy, her eyes giving him a look of horror.

"Sharon-" he started to say, but she held up her hand, moved quickly across the room, and she pulled him along with her into the bathroom. She shut the door and turned on the shower.

"Well, Sharon," he gave a sly grin as she turned back to him from turning on the shower. He moved his hands to his shirt buttons and started to unbutton them.

"No!" she smacked at him. "Knock it off! Andy, I can't even believe this," she shook her head, her eyes conveying terror. "What if someone saw us? The feed is live! We may have been seen. I had to drag you in here-" he cut her off.

"I know," he waved. "Only place we can talk, and the shower drowns out our voices. I'm not that crazy, Sharon," he flashed a grin. "I was just trying to get you to relax, get your mind calmed with my charm."

"It's not working," she hissed. "Andy, I think I'm going to be sick," she said, moving to sit down on the toilet seat, the only "seat" in the bathroom area. "Oh my-if they saw us," she sighed.

Andy ran his hand through his hair, "Yeah," he sighed too. "It could be bad, but they might not have seen anything. There's no reason to monitor our room yet. They knew Julio was on his way up, and they knew we were here. Our room camera is probably not even on right now. They wouldn't do that to us, monitor us with us in the room."

Sharon tried to nod, but she then started to shake her head. She sighed again, putting her hands, which were resting on her knees, in her face. "I'm so mortified!"

Andy kneeled so that he was even with her face. He put his hands on her knees, "Hey," he offered her a smile, trying to get her to look at him. She didn't, so he tried again. He pulled her hands away from her face, kissing her knuckles to look at her. The room was starting to steam up from the shower running. "Sharon, do not worry about this. They didn't see anything. I know the team, and they won't have the live feed on until it's showtime, which," he glanced at his watch, "is in another two hours. Until then, they won't be monitoring anything."

Sharon let out a long sigh, shaking her head. She still had not met Andy's gaze, and he still stayed there, crouched near her, his hands holding hers.

"Hey," he nudged at her. She finally looked at him. She offered a small smile. "How about you tell me what you were trying to say out there before you were a bit breathless," he flashed her a grin.

Sharon's face got red again; it was flushed from his comment as well as from the steam from the shower. "I don't," she shook her head.

"Yeah, you do. You remember what you were going to say. Don't try to get out of it, Captain," he added.

Sharon sighed again, taking his hands in hers again, "I was trying to say that I don't know why I ever left you, that I was so stupid. Andy, I'm sorry. All these years later, I'm sorry."

"I can't stay crouched here," he said in pain as he shifted to sit on the bathroom floor. He pulled Sharon along with him to sit next to him against the bathroom wall. "I need to apologize myself," he said, sitting against the wall, his feet in front of him. Sharon was now next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "I need to apologize for not coming after you. I should have followed you when you said no to my proposal. I should have gone after you. I wasn't man enough to fight for you. That's my fault."

Sharon shook her head, which was a bit difficult on Andy's shoulder, "No. I shouldn't have said no. I shouldn't have run, which is what I did. I went back to my parents, assuming that would fix everything. I wasn't adult enough myself to sit and talk things through. I panicked, told you I wanted to break up, and then I just left you to pick up the pieces to your life, a life that for three years had included me. Then, when I did come to my senses, I didn't trust you, Andy, as I should have. You are a good man, Andy, and I was stupid to think you would have moved on that quickly. I realize that now. Once again, I ran from the problem instead of addressing it. I'm sorry. From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry."

He nodded, turning to kiss the top of her head, "I think we both have a lot of regrets, but as you know, we can't erase the past. We can only learn from it."

"I know," she huffed. "It should have never come to this. I think of what could have been, and it almost makes me sick. We would have had a good life, Andy," she told him.

"I think we would have had a great life, Sharon," he sighed. "Did you turn on that shower to the hottest setting? It's burning up in here," he said, pulling at his shirt collar.]

"It is a bit steamy," Sharon added. "What now?" Sharon asked.

"Well," Andy sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know. Want to start by fooling around in here?" he flashed an optimistic grin.

* * *

 **Yes, things heat up...literally :)**


	12. Chapter 12

"Eating Julio's room service dinner wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Andy said quietly a few minutes later as he put down his fork, sat back, and folded his arms. He was still a bit shell-shocked at the events that had occurred over the last half hour. He glanced toward the door not wanting to forget the amazing kiss he'd initiated there, and as he smiled thinking of it, Sharon had reciprocated. He continued to smile as he looked around the room, to the bed where they'd been interrupted. Julio would never know just how much Andy hated him right now. He then looked toward the bathroom, the only solitude in this place right now, the place where he'd finally gotten Sharon to break down her walls, even if it was just a tiny bit of a break, more of a crack, but it was a start.

Sharon leaned out from the bathroom, "Eating dinner is your only option right now." She was fixing her hair, or trying to at least. They were being very careful about what was being said knowing that the room was wired. While they hoped no one was monitoring it now, they knew they couldn't guarantee that. After Andy had jokingly suggested they "fool around" in the bathroom, Sharon had smacked at him again and had a comeback of her own.

 _"Sure," she smiled. "We can fool around IF you can stand up off this bathroom floor without help or without groaning in pain."_

 _"Easy," Andy waved her off, and he didn't even get to his knees before he let out a yelp, "Oh, son of a-my leg is cramping."_

 _Sharon, still seated next to him on the floor, burst out laughing. The scene really was comical. The shower was still running full blast, or really in a way, full steam ahead. It certainly had steamed up the bathroom, which Sharon knew Andy planned to take advantage of that. She, however, had no plans to lust after Andy in a hotel bathroom, on the floor, nonetheless, while doing an undercover assignment. It wasn't Sharon; it wasn't at all romantic. It was not her style, and after 30 years, Sharon was willing to still wait for the right moment; this was not it. So, she laughed as he cried out in his agony. She knew that would be an easy bet for him to take, but really, she knew it would be an even easier battle for him to lose. Sharon knew Andy had struggled to sit and would have as much trouble standing. She hadn't prepared for an alternative; she hadn't prepared for him to win the bet. Luckily, he lost almost as soon as he started._

 _"You're sitting there laughing," he huffed. "You try to get up without complaining."_

 _"Fine," she said as she gracefully stood. She smiled down at him where he was still on bended knee before her. "Would you like some help?"_

 _"There are a lot of things I'd like right now," he flashed one of his cheeky grins at her. She rolled her eyes and offered her hand to help him stand._

 _"Your glasses," he nodded to her taking them off. They had begun to fog as well, and once he had them off her face, he brushed the side of it. "You are still so beautiful," he smiled sweetly at her. "All these years later, Sharon, and you ask why I've always been irritated with you at work? I've hated staring at you, thinking of you. You're more beautiful now if that's possible."_

 _"Andy," Sharon shook her head, as she called out his name breathlessly. "We have a job to do."_

 _He sighed, nodding along in agreement. "Okay, first order of business," he turned to the shower, "is to turn this thing off. It's become a sauna in here. Sure you don't want to mess around?" he asked again, raising his eyebrows, completely teasing, but he loved the way she got flushed now as he mentioned it. Sharon opened the bathroom door to let out some of the steam. She turned back to him, putting her hand on his chest to stop him from moving any closer._

 _In a hushed voice, she met his gaze, "We are getting back to work, now. This case needs to end. Put a lid on all of this. We've got to watch what we say out there. Julio said he brought dinner, so go and eat."_

 _Andy threw a pouted look at her, "Why should I go eat? What are you going to do?"_

 _"Anything but eat!" she said a bit louder in a harsher tone. "I can't sit down with you out there right now," she told him._

 _"Why?" Andy asked._

 _"If I sit, I can't focus. It's all your fault. If I sit, I want to," she shrugged, "do things other than sit."_

 _"Oh," he nodded, as he scratched his head, smiling at the thoughts. "I'll eat. What are you going to do then?"_

 _"I'll start by fixing my hair," she pulled on it slightly. "Somehow, someone messed it up. I need to look presentable for this evening."_

 _He grinned, "You look more than presentable right now," he winked. She swatted at him._

 _"Stop it! Keep your voice down," she ushered him out of the bathroom._

Now, as she tried to tame her wild hair, she tried to focus. Comments from Andy weren't helping.

"Sharon?" he called again, and she peaked out from the bathroom. "You didn't tell me what you are going to wear this evening."

"Clothing," she replied and ducked back into the bathroom to continue working on her hair.

Andy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, kinda hoped that was the case," he offered a slight chuckle. Even if someone was listening, that wasn't an inappropriate comment. "Care to elaborate?"

"Nope," he heard her call from the bathroom. "You'll see when this all gets started."

Andy stabbed at his fruit; he was frustrated, and that frustration was growing by the minute. At least his frustration would be easy to explain; he had been glued to Sharon's side for the last day now, and surely, the team would think he was irritated about that. Yes, the team. They were probably having a good laugh at the thought of Andy and Sharon stuck together in this room. Andy smiled at that knowing they didn't know the half of it.

Andy couldn't wait for the evening to end. He had a bad feeling about this dirt bag, and he hated the idea of the guy coming to their room. Even before he and Sharon had their little make out session and even their heart to heart earlier, he hated the idea of any creep putting the moves on a female officer. That was one of the reasons he hated undercover work. Arresting murderers, no problem. Once a dirt bag, always a dirt bag. They were a dime a dozen, but putting good officers in potentially dangerous situations to trap a suspect, he hated that. It was hard to explain, considering every day, they were all at risk as they chased suspected and lied to suspects to get them to confess, but to Andy, it was a different kind of lie. It was out in public, not in an interrogation room, and the big thing, Sharon wouldn't be armed this evening. He hated that for her too. Even being across the hall seemed too far, no matter what might or might not develop between himself and Sharon.

"Might I throw out a suggestion for your clothing for the evening?" he asked. Sharon peaked out of the bathroom, curling iron in hand and looked at him with a questioning glance.

"Those flannel pajamas were lovely," he smirked. Sharon scoffed at him and rolled her eyes.

"I have a second pair with me," she yelled out to him. Even she didn't care if that was overheard. The team could make fun of her pajamas all they wanted. She'd brought them for a reason.

Andy stood and walked to the bathroom doorway where he leaned up against it as he watched her work on her hair, "You'll have to explain the pajamas then. I found them to be quite absurd, as did Julio."

Without looking at him, she answered, "That was the plan. There is nothing appealing about them, other than comfort in the winter. They are old, worn, and cover everything that needs to be covered. Coming here, knowing I had to stay in this room with you," she said in hushed tones since the bathroom door was open, "I needed to feel in control. Those flannel pajamas helped." She caught his gaze and just shook her head. Andy continued to watch her.

"What are you afraid of now? Something about this potential development has you spooked. What is it?" he asked, again trying to keep his voice down.

She turned to speak, opening her mouth, and then she closed it again and shook her head. Andy continued to look at her, and finally after she had turned back to face the mirror and not Andy, she spoke, "I'm afraid this will all backfire. I'm afraid that I only have the Andy of 30 years ago in my head, that we've grown too far apart. I'm afraid that we'll mess this up before it starts, making it even harder to work together. We've both grown a lot in 30 years, obviously. We've developed habits, good and bad, and I'm afraid it won't be the story we want."

Andy nodded as he took a step further into the bathroom to speak to her in a soft voice, "Can I tell you something?" he asked and waited for Sharon to nod before he continued. "I'm afraid to grow old alone. I'm afraid that I will never find a woman who measures up to you because so far, I haven't. I'm afraid to lose you again. I'm afraid to continue hating you because it's not good for my health. I'm afraid to let you go."

Sharon closed her eyes, sighing. "We can't continue to talk about this right now. Andy, every time we get back to work, we slip back to this," she nudged him to move back into the room. It really would look awkward if they continued by the bathroom. People could be watching. Andy stepped back, reclaiming his stance against the door frame.

"Go," she shooed him. "I'm going to finish getting ready. I need to finish my makeup."

"I can't stand here and talk to you?" he said exasperated.

"No, you may not. I can't concentrate," she told him. Andy nodded and turned in the room. He glanced at the tv, and after he found the remote, he flipped through the channels.

"Great, a Dodger game," he smiled as he flopped onto the bed. Sharon glanced over to see him laying with his hands behind his head, very relaxed as he watched baseball. He realized he had dozed off when Sharon stood over him, shaking his arm. Glancing at the clock, he saw it had only been a few minutes.

"Andy," she repeated. He didn't even need to open his eyes or hear her voice to know it was Sharon. He could smell her perfume, a smell he'd memorized since the afternoon. It was a smell he now wouldn't forget. "Andy," she repeated, and he smiled at her when he opened his eyes. "It's time for things to get started."

Andy sat up, "Sorry, I guess I dozed off." He looked to her frowning, "Please tell me you aren't wearing that to talk to this dirt bag?" he eyed her attire.

"This robe?" she asked. "What's wrong with it?"

"As you just pointed out, "It's a robe."

She shrugged, "Your dirt bag might enjoy it."

"Oh, please, you can't wear that. What? I get flannel pajamas, and he gets that?" Andy gestured, growing irritated.

"No," she grinned. "I haven't changed yet. I was just messing with you a bit," she moved around the room and as she walked back into the bathroom, she winked at him. Andy glanced at the clock, brushing his hand over his face.

"I guess it's show time," he said as he stood. He collected his gun, badge, and personal items and walked back to the bathroom where Sharon was currently finishing her makeup. "I know you don't want to hear it, but be safe," he told her. She nodded. Before he turned to leave, he stepped into the bathroom, out of sight of the rest of the room, "Any chance I can see what you are going to wear?" he nodded to her robe.

"No!" she exclaimed. "You aren't taking this off. Go. Focus!" she said completely irritated.

"You have no idea what would help me focus," he grumbled as he stepped back into the bathroom doorway. "Be safe, tonight, Sharon," he said truthfully. "I'll be across the hall with the team."

Sharon offered him a small smile, "I know. Thank you, and I will be careful." Andy nodded to her and turned for the door. He had his hand on the door handle when she called out to him. "Andy," she said as he turned to see what she needed. He'd now opened the door and could see the room directly across the hall was open too. The team was moving into place. This was the first time he'd seen the team together in over a day now.

"Need something?" he asked, being very careful of what was said now that the door was open and the team was milling around.

"Yes," she said.

"Yes, what? What do you need, Sharon?" he asked.

"I need you to know that yes is the answer to your question from earlier today," she nodded as she closed the bathroom door to finish getting ready. Andy stood there, speechless, not sure how he was now going to get through the rest of the evening.


	13. Chapter 13

Andy was still standing in the hallway, now with a big grin on his face when a smack to the back of his head pulled him back to reality.

"You kissed her?" he heard from a very irritated Provenza. Andy turned and followed Provenza into the room across the hall from Sharon.

"Wait, what?" Andy asked. "What did you see?" he started to panic. He could tell his face was flushed, and with the rest of the team milling around in the suite, this wasn't the conversation he wanted to have.

"I saw plenty," Provenza grimaced. "Too much. What is wrong with you, Flynn?" he asked.

Gabriel walked by and looked to Andy, "Ah, Lieutenant," he nodded. "We've noticed you've had an interesting couple of days now," he grinned and then began to chuckle when he glanced to Provenza.

"Oh crap," Andy covered his face, shaking it. He looked to see a disgusted Provenza staring back at him.

"Well?" Provenza asked again. "Kissing her was your only option?"

"Only option?" Andy asked. That didn't fit what he was thinking.

"Explain to me how kissing the captain in the lobby was necessary," Provenza stated.

"Oh that," Andy sighed as he let out his breath. Hopefully, if that was what Provenza was so irritated about, he hadn't seen anything more than their kiss in the lobby.

"Yes! What do you mean, 'Oh, that,' anyway? Is she that bad of a kisser?" he flashed a smirk to Andy.

"Stop, will you, okay! That was just work. The dirt bag was walking by, and I tried to first use my arm to block us from his view. Then, when he turned and headed right toward us, I didn't have a lot of ways to keep us out of sight. We'd been standing there spying on him, so I acted quickly and kissed her. It was work," he enunciated.

"Work," Provenza grumbled. "So, was she a good kisser?" he grinned.

"Stop, will you? Let's respect her as a police captain," Andy complained.

"Lousy kisser, check," Provenza nodded. Gabriel chucked as he listened to their conversation and setup one of the monitors.

"Look, no matter what you think of her, it was work. I'm serious that it's disrespectful to discuss anything else," Andy explained. "Please."

Provenza eyed Andy and motioned for him to follow him. The two walked into the other part of the suite, out of earshot of the rest of the team, and Provenza zeroed in on Andy, "What's going on with you? You're defending the captain? I'm worried she's messed with your head-you've spent too much time in there with her. Can I just say how glad I am that I wasn't the one put in that room with her?"

"Just leave it alone. It's been a stressful couple of days. Undercover work always is, and yeah, it's been more of a challenge with Sharon," Andy explained.

"Sharon?" Provenza questioned.

"That's her name!" Andy said. "What? You think I'm going to call her captain the whole time? One, that's insane. Two, that would kind of blow our cover, and three, that's her name."

Provenza eyed Andy's fidgety behavior and nervous stance, "Something more is going on."

"I'm fine. I just don't like this assignment, and I really don't like the idea of that dirt bag going into our room tonight," Andy told him.

Provenza nodded, "You really are playing this part. 'Our' room," he chuckled. "She'll be fine, Flynn. The captain can handle herself."

"I know," Andy waved him off. "She is a good cop, and I never like putting a good cop alone with scum like this Brian guy. I just don't want things to go wrong. I'm exhausted too, and I know I haven't even had that long of a day. It's just been an exhausting one."

Provenza nodded, "Well, it's almost show time," he said looking to his watch. "Let's go see if we are good to go."

The two men walked back into the main room and saw that Brenda, Fritz, Buzz, Mike, and Cooper had joined them. Julio was down the hall, out of sight, with another room service cart if needed. Amy was in the lobby watching Brian where he was apparently still at the bar hitting on women.

"Andy," Brenda smiled to him. "Good to see you," she nodded. "You've done good work so far. I know this undercover stuff gets frustrating at times."

"Thanks, Chief," Andy nodded. "Yeah, I think we are both ready to finish. I'm definitely read to get this part of the operation over."

"Well, I'm sure the captain is too. She's done a very good job; you two make a good team, as much as it pains me to say that," she grimaced as the rest of the team chuckled.

"Brenda, could I show you this?" Fritz asked, and Brenda nodded, walking to him to look at his paperwork.

"Good to see you, Andy," Mike patted his arm as he walked by. He sat down at the monitors next to Buzz. The two seemed to be ready.

"You too, Mike," he nodded. "Chief, what do you want me to do?" Andy asked.

Brenda looked up from where she was speaking to Fritz, "You and the lieutenant can be our stand by people. Just be near the door in case we'd need to move quickly. Julio is out of sight, ready to go as well, and Lieutenant Cooper's people are following this Brian as we speak."

Everyone nodded as they got situated. Cooper spoke up, "Brian is on the move," he notified the room. Andy glanced to the monitors and saw that they had full view of his hotel room. Sharon must still be in the bathroom, which he knew the surveillance stuff creeped her out. She was probably in there as much to avoid being watched by her fellow officers at the moment.

The team got serious when they heard a knock at Sharon's door a few minutes later. Provenza was lingering near the door to the suite they were all in, and Andy found himself pacing the room, stuck between wanting to watch the monitor and stand at the door.

"Brian, hello," Andy's pacing stopped suddenly when he heard Sharon's voice through the monitor. He turned and quickly moved to watch the screen. Apparently, he needed to see things in action; Provenza could cover the door.

"Cristin, umm, wow," he smiled to her. Sharon stood in the doorway to the room, her hand on the door. "You look absolutely stunning."

"What is she wearing?" Andy hissed as he tried to get a closer view of the screen. He almost wanted to push Buzz, Mike, and Brenda aside to get a better view. "She can't wear something like that!"

Brenda turned to Andy, "What's wrong with it? I think she's dressed perfectly. He likes women, obviously, and he likes women in tight clothing. You saw that in the lobby."

"Yeah, but," Andy waved his hand, "Sharon doesn't need to wear that for him." Andy continued to stare. Sharon was wearing a very short, very tight, low-cut, red strapless dress with bright red heels to match. Honestly, he was shocked she owned the item because it didn't look very Sharon-like. He'd seen her in a lot of different things, even over recent years with police benefits and such, and he'd never seen her in something like that. "She hates strapless things," he continued. "I'm just surprised she would have something like that."

Mike chuckled, "Maybe you're just surprised that under all that tough cop exterior the captain actually looks like a woman. Maybe you can't believe she cleans up that nicely."

"Oh, stuff it, Mike," Andy rolled his eyes. "No, I just know she's mentioned she likes something that isn't quite so revealing. Ah, we talked about clothing some today," he said to cover his fast knowledge about Sharon's clothing preference. He couldn't get into knowing facts from 30 years ago.

"Well, obviously the captain knows what she is doing because our suspect there appears to like her dress very much. He's not even in the door yet and is already mentally undressing her," Brenda pointed out.

Andy groaned, shaking his head and started to pace again. The team was doing their part, and when he snapped out of his panic over Brian ogling Sharon, he turned back to the monitor to see that Sharon had invited Brian into the room. He was just getting himself situated on the couch.

Brian was seated, and Sharon was collecting some glassware for the two, when he continued with his compliments, "I can't tell you how amazing you look. That dress is just wow," he smiled brightly at her.

"Why thank you," she said as she turned and walked toward him, wine glasses in hand. "My dear friend, Emily, helped with the dress."

Andy perked up and turned, "Emily's her daughter. That must be one of Emily's dresses. That makes sense now," he nodded. The team turned to him wondering why this was such an issue. Andy let out his breath, with now knowing the dress was Emily's a welcome relief somehow. He continued to pace as he listened. He thought he wanted to watch, but he was going from watching to pacing and back again. Currently, he was pacing.

"Well, your friend has exquisite taste. Care to join me?" he asked, patting the seat next to his. Sharon nodded and sat, crossing her leg toward him. "I brought two different wines with me tonight. I thought you would enjoy both. If you do, I'm sure we can work out some arrangement regarding delivery and a constant supply. I like to keep my clients happy."

"I'm sure you do," Sharon said, and Andy turned to the screen, noting she had a fake smiled plastered on her face. Brian worked to open the first bottle, and he poured a full glass for Sharon and himself.

"Cheers," he clinked glasses with Sharon, and for the next minute or so, he started describing the wine in detail. Andy tuned that out because he was not at all interested in the wine or its method of production.

"So, I take it your husband wont' be joining us?" Brian asked. Andy turned to view the screen again now that he'd been mentioned.

"No," Sharon gave a sad smile, her hand drawing circles on the couch's cushion. "He's not interested in wine, nor really me, for that matter."

"Well, I hope I don't offend you and say the man has very poor taste then because I have to say you are both exquisite, the wine and the person," he smiled.

"Oh my-," Andy shook his head and sighed. He heard a chuckle from Provenza.

"This guy is a real smooth talker. It's amazing that women fall for this crap," Provenza added. Andy turned to him, nodding.

"I do agree with you, yet, I have the same thought about every wife you've had. It's amazing that women fall for that," he gestured to Provenza himself. Provenza just sneered at him and turned back toward the door. Andy turned his attention on the monitor and wanted to lunge at the screen.

"When did they start holding hands?" he exclaimed.

"About five seconds after our smooth talker her gave the captain another compliment. He stilled her hand on the couch, and she's doing everything she can not to slap him, or so it looks," Mike answered. Andy sighed again and continued to watch.

"This wine is delightful," Sharon said as she continued to sip on it. "Aren't you going to have more yourself?" she nodded to his still full glass.

"I will; I'm just admiring you," he smiled again. Provenza groaned in the corner of the room, and Andy continued to run his hands through his hair.

"So, the other wine?" she nodded to the bottle. "Which of the two do you prefer?"

Brian flashed a smirk at her, "Well, it depends. This one we are sipping is much better for business. I prefer the other for pleasure."

"I see," Sharon nodded. "We might have to wait then to try that at a different time. I'm not sure tonight I have a lot of time. My husband has been out of the room quite awhile, and I'd hate for him to return before we finished the bottle of wine, of course. I am enjoying this wine, though, very much," she nodded to her current glass. "I think we have the same taste."

"Ah, very good," he grinned, "so, you might enjoy getting together again to say, try the other bottle, say a time when your husband isn't around?"

"I think that could be arranged," she nodded. "Now, if I do intend to at least start off buying this wine, could you possibly deliver? I do live in Phoenix, so I realize it's not local."

"Well, I'd be happy to arrange a time to bring this one along with the other. Perhaps that would be a good time to work on the other bottle," he offered.

"I like your thinking," Sharon nodded, and she started to stand. "Let me get my calendar," she said. Brian put his hand on her waist when she stood, and that almost had Andy bolt out the door. "I was hoping we could sit here together and enjoy the moment?"

Sharon stepped away from his touch, "I would like to finish with business first, before my husband returns."

Sharon walked over to study her calendar and turned back to see Brian standing now by the couch, "Do you have any of this wine I could take home with me? It really is delightful, and I'd hate to have to wait. I don't think I'd be available for you to bring any for another two weeks. However, if you do have some with you, I could pay top dollar tomorrow."

"I think we can manage that," he nodded. "I always do what I can to help out my best customers."

"Oh," she looked surprised, "so, I'm now one of your best customers?"

"Very best," he nodded as he walked to her. The team moved closer to the monitor, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to do anything to hurt Sharon as he moved toward her. "Sure your husband is returning soon?"

Sharon hummed, "Unfortunately, yes. He ruins all my fun," she shrugged.

"Perhaps not all?" he questioned.

"Okay, Andy, before this creep tries anything else, I believe it's time for you to reappear," Brenda nodded to him. Andy nodded back to her, stepping toward the door.

"Calm down, Flynn. This has gone fine," Provenza told him as he opened the door. He now had no eyes on the camera, but now, just a door separated him from Sharon and the dirt bag. He made a production of putting his room key into the card slot, yanking it out early so that it wouldn't unlock the door, but it would alert Sharon and Brian he was outside. He repeated the action before actually opening the door on the third attempt.

"Cristin," he called out before he even entered the room. "Stupid key wouldn't work," he added, and as he stepped, he saw Brian closer than he wanted to see him to Sharon, but Sharon had stuck her hand out to Brian. Brian was kissing her hand, a move Andy noted must have been Sharon's quick thinking. It looked like Brian probably had tried to kiss Sharon, but she'd stuck her hand out at the last second. He nodded to her as he met her gaze. She was good at this.

"Oh, Todd," she nodded to Andy. "You remember Brian, right? He brought by two of his best wines. I sampled one, and well, it's absolutely wonderful. We were just discussing a deal, and he's going to have a case of this wine ready for us in the morning."

"Umm, yeah," Andy waved off in disinterest to Brian, "I remember meeting you downstairs. You've been up here with my wife? Why not meet in the lobby, Chris?" he asked looking to both.

"Well," Sharon smiled to Andy as she patted Brian's hand, "we would have enjoyed the lobby, but it's not always the best place to conduct business. Too loud tonight; that piano bar was echoing through the entire lobby area."

"Okay, whatever," Andy waved off. "I'm ready to hit the sack, so are you two done with your business?" he waved between them. Sharon had painted Andy as the uninterested husband, so he was trying his best to play the part. "Chris, what's up the outfit? You look like you are headed to a club."

Sharon rolled her eyes for Brian's benefit, and she looked to Brian, "See, I told you-he doesn't appreciate the dress." She turned back to Andy, "Like I said, I was planning to be downstairs, but it was too loud. You never take me out, so I figured I needed an excuse to wear my favorite dress."

"Whatever," Andy waved off. "I'm hitting the shower. Brian, is it? Yeah, I think it's time to call it a night."

Andy stepped into the bathroom, closing the door, but still able to hear Sharon. He felt much better now that he was just a few steps away, but he secretly wished he was the one escorting the dirt bag to the door.

"As you can see," he heard Sharon say to Brian, "my husband is ready to turn in for the evening. I think we will have to call this a night. Thank you for stopping by with the wine," he nodded to him, as he picked up the unopened bottle.

"Can I interest you in sampling the other bottle, say, even in my room?" he offered, a smile on his face.

Sharon offered a sympathetic smile in return, "I don't think that would be best for tonight. Thank you for the offer," she said, as she opened the door. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Andy turned on the shower again for full effect; he'd said he was going to take a shower, but then regretted his decision. It was almost impossible to hear anything with the shower running, a point that could work in their favor regarding their earlier bathroom discussion. He had remembered to turn the shower to the cold setting, so at least this time, it wasn't steaming up the bathroom as badly.

Andy saw the door start to open, and Sharon peaked her head around it. "Is he gone?" he asked.

Sharon nodded, further opening the door. Andy turned to the shower and turned it off before turning back to Sharon.

"Oh, thank goodness," he started to say. Sharon put her finger to his mouth to quiet him, her eyes pleading he not say anything further.

"The team should be right over to debrief this and figure out things for tomorrow. He left he opened bottle, which they will need for evidence because I suspect the ones he'll sell us tomorrow will be the replacement fake wine." He nodded at her explanation, and the two stepped out of the bathroom. They stood in silence in the room, as hard as that was, awaiting the team. They would all sit down and figure out tomorrow's hopeful arrest. The evening was winding down, but now the real panic was settling in for both Sharon and Andy. They still had another night to get through in the room, and neither knew what that would entail.

* * *

Yeah, Brian is a creep. Dirt bag, as Andy likes to say :)


	14. Chapter 14

A knock at the door a few moments later had Andy moving swiftly across their room. Sharon let out her breath; she finally felt she could breathe again after having that creep in the room.

Fritz and Brenda were at the door and moved inside quickly. Once Andy had shut the door, he moved back toward Sharon, not wanting to leave her side. Watching Brian had been hard, but he knew it was critical to Major Crime's and the FBI's case. That was part of the deal-Major Crimes was helping, but it looked like they would be turning the full case over to the FBI once it was settled.

"Captain, good work tonight," Brenda complimented her. Fritz jumped in right away.

"Sharon, that went well. You setup things perfectly for tomorrow, as far as indicating you wanted to purchase his wine. Did you setup a time and place?" he asked.

Sharon pursed her lips, "No," she shook her head. "What would you like me to do in that regard? I can contact him tonight if you like."

"We'd like you to have him bring the wine here in the morning. He feels comfortable in your room. Andy, you can get getting breakfast or something according to Sharon. Of course," he paused, "you will be across the hall with us, but we'd like to take down this guy right here. It's contained and somewhat safe. It won't be a factor for the rest of the hotel."

Sharon and Andy both nodded, and Andy caught her moving her arms out of the corner of his eye. She was running them up and down her arms, probably cold. He glanced around and saw her robe lying on her bag, so he grabbed it and offered it to her. She nodded, and he helped her put it on, which relieved him too. He knew she was probably uncomfortable in that dress; it wasn't her style, and yes, even though she was on assignment, he knew she wouldn't feel comfortable standing around in it discussing work. With the robe now on over her dress, he could tell that she was both warmer and a bit more relaxed.

"That will be fine," she nodded to Fritz. "I can get ahold of him first thing in the morning if you like?" she offered.

"Please do," Fritz nodded. "Tonight sounds anxious, but first thing in the morning, setup a 10:00 AM time. If he won't work with that, let us know, but we'll plan to continue this tomorrow morning. Brenda has people on this in the building keeping an eye on him, and right now, he's back in the bar area. We don't think he'll be a problem, but we are watching him."

"So, if all goes well, this could be over tomorrow morning?" Andy asked.

"Yes," Fritz nodded. "We hope to arrest him in the morning, provided that he sells you what he claims to be this expensive wine of his. It will need to be tested, but if it's fake stuff, then we've got him. We're going to keep this block of rooms at least through tomorrow night, just in case."

The room nodded at the information, and Brenda asked, "Do either of you need anything more tonight?"

"I think we're fine, Chief," Andy added as he looked to Sharon. She crossed her arms and looked back at Brenda, nodding in agreement.

"Oh, one last thing I forgot," Fritz mentioned. "I hope it's not an issue, but we are going to go ahead and leave the surveillance equipment up overnight since Brian will be back in the morning. I know it's intrusive, but we went to a lot of effort to put everything in here yesterday afternoon. I'm sorry about that, but it is late, so I think we are all ready for a decent night of rest. Hope that's not a problem," he added. It's running, but we won't be manning it until later."

Andy opened his mouth, about to speak, but Sharon spoke first, "We can manage."

"Okay," he clapped his hands together and looked to Brenda, "Brenda, let's get going, then. We've all had a long day."

"Captain, Andy, thank you both for the good work you have done. I know undercover work is not ideal, and you two didn't exactly pair up to volunteer for this, but it is appreciated, and you've worked well together in spite of any differences you may have. You'll both have a couple days off when we finish this. Get some rest, and hopefully, we can wrap this up tomorrow. We've been working behind the scenes and have quite a case so far. Once we take him into custody, we'll help the FBI question him before we turn him over. Thank you again and good night," she nodded. Fritz waved to them both as he and Brenda stepped out of the room again, leaving Sharon and Andy alone.

Andy turned to her with a concerned look, "Are you okay?" He was not happy with the surveillance statement for several reasons. He hated the idea, for starters, that he couldn't even easily speak to Sharon in the room without the possibility of someone else listening. He didn't care what Fritz said; the risk was too high that anyone could still be at that monitor.

Sharon looked around the room and found the television remote on the bed where Andy had fallen asleep with it earlier. She grabbed it and turned on the tv, turning the volume way up. It wasn't perfect, but it might be a slightly better solution than suffocating themselves in the bathroom to talk over the shower.

"I'm okay," she told him as she walked back toward him after turning up the tv volume. She was speaking in a hushed tone; he could still hear her, but the tv was doing a good job muffling the sound. "I hate this," she nodded toward the ceiling, mentioning the surveillance equipment, "but, I understand the reasoning." She rolled her eyes, drawing a chuckle from Andy. He nodded in agreement and ran his hand through his hair, something he did when he was a bit agitated.

"He didn't touch you, did he?" Andy asked.

Sharon shook her head, "No, other than trying to hold my hand, no, he didn't." She offered a small smile. "Thank you for keeping your cool."

"Took more willpower than you can imagine," he offered a small smile. "That's quite the dress," he nodded to what she'd been wearing. She'd slipped off her heels.

She smiled brightly at him, "See, there was a reason I needed you out of the room to finish getting ready. I knew this would be a distraction," she smiled. "Emily's," she shrugged.

He nodded, "I picked up on that. Nice touch."

Sharon smiled as she started to laugh, "I could envision you in the other room ready to pass out. It's not my normal style, but luckily, Emily left quite a few of her formal dresses at home. Obviously, I'm not in the habit of wearing them, but for this, I'm thankful I could squeeze into it."

"It didn't strike me as one of your normal dresses," he rolled his eyes. "I will say, though, that it does look absolutely amazing on you, Emily's or not."

"Thank you," she smiled. "I hate strapless, always pulling it up., but it did the trick for tonight."

"That's what I said!" exclaimed. Sharon eyed him, and he continued, "No, I mean, I didn't get into details like that, but I commented that you hated strapless. I remember."

"You told the team I don't like strapless? Didn't that raise some suspicion?" she asked, now a bit worried.

He shook his head, "I only mentioned we'd discussed your clothing. Can we sit down or something?" he asked. "I've been pacing for the last hour, and I know you were dealing with that dirt bag."

"Honestly," Sharon looked up at him with a longing gaze, "I would love to get a shower and wash away the day. I really want out of this dress."

"What can I do to help?" Andy flashed a cheeky grin at her, and she started to laugh. It was the perfect comment to release any tension.

"Not what you probably want to do," she patted his hand. "I need to get into the bathroom if this room is all wired up and everything." Andy nodded, and Sharon walked to her bag, digging through her things. She took a pile of clothing with her. Andy continued to pace the room, walking now in circles. He finally flopped back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. It had been a long, frustrating day, full of emotion, work, more emotion, and more work. There was so much more to discuss, and he thought of where he and Sharon were when the day started to where they were now.

"Andy?" he saw Sharon peak her head out from the bathroom door. The tv was still turned way up, and it was hard to hear her, but he knew she'd only said his name. He sat up, looking at her.

"My dress," she nodded to him. "I think the zipper is stuck," she bit her lip. "Please."

Andy groaned as he stood; helping Sharon with her dress would normally have him sprinting to the bathroom, but with the room situation, he was not hopeful.

"You're killing me, you know that," he rolled his eyes, as he stepped into the room and closed the door. Sharon was still working on the zipper. It looked like she had gotten it stuck on both the fabric and in her hair as well. He groaned as he messed with her zipper. Sharon, in the dress, well, half undressed, here after the two of them had cleared the air so to speak about the last 30 years, he was struggling.

"Hold still and stop laughing," he told her. "Wicked woman," he sighed. "We finally hash things out after 30 years, and we're stuck in a room that's wired. Just perfect."

Sharon continued to chuckle while Andy messed with the zipper. Finally, he got it, and he was able to finish unzipping her dress.

Sharon turned to him, smiling brightly, and she wrapped her arms around him, "I meant what I said earlier. I know we don't have the best timing here, and we still have a lot to discuss, but Andy, I do still love you. Walking away from you has been my biggest regret, and honestly, until we were put together and almost forced to be around each other, I was too stubborn to admit it. The words you said earlier, they continue to ring through my head. I don't want to lose you again, Andy, not if we finally have the chance to make this right. I'm afraid to let you go too. I've thought about that all evening. All I wanted to do when Brian was here was get him out of the room. I wanted to be around you, and I've been in denial for years about how I truly felt for you. I messed this up once, and I don't want to do it again."

Andy smiled at her, nodding. He brushed hair out of her face, and Sharon leaned up to kiss him. The stood, once again, in the bathroom, and they continued their kiss. When they broke apart, Sharon smiled. "I'm going to ask what I asked earlier-what next?"

"Besides getting out of this wired room?" he rolled his eyes. "Well," he shrugged.

"Let me get a shower, and maybe we can talk more after. We can leave the tv up and at least turn out the lights, hmm?" she offered.

He eyed her and looked toward the shower. She started to chuckle and shook her head, "No. Not here, not like that. I admit we got a little carried away earlier when we are supposed to be working. Make you a deal-finish this case, and we can negotiate things then?"

He frowned at her, "Never like your deals, but I've also learned never to argue with them," he winked to her.

"I promise this deal will be better than others you've had to take," she smiled. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time quickly before stepping back to leave the bathroom. He winked at her and was almost out the door when she called to him again, "Andy?"

He glanced back in just in time for her dress to hit him in the face. Before he finally closed the door, he grumbled to her, "Sharon, you really are wicked, and you are killing me." Her laughter could be heard as he closed the door.


	15. Chapter 15

**I had the worst trouble posting this chapter, so I hope the formatting errors were all corrected. I had to post and delete this a few times; it kept doing odd things to the document. So, keep that in mind, but hopefully, everything is fixed. The night continues...**

* * *

He started to chuckle and then he pointed at her, "How many pairs of those do you have?" Andy was sitting up against the bed's headboard, book in hand when Sharon emerged from the bathroom. The room was quiet; with Sharon in the bathroom, he'd cut off the tv for a few moments of silence. Now that she was done, he'd have to find the remote to turn up the tv again, but first, he had to ask about her pajamas.

Sharon looked down at herself and then back at Andy, "What's wrong with them?" She was clad in a different pair of flannel pajamas, again, quite an odd choice for it being May in Los Angeles.

"Same thing I asked about last night. Are you afraid of me or something? Flannel pajamas-in May?" he emphasized.

She hummed, as she put things back into her suitcase and paid him no attention. Without looking she answered, "It's all I packed. These pajamas, I mean. I packed two pairs of flannel pajamas. I packed the pajamas that were my least flattering and covered the most." She turned to him to say more, but paused as she was about to speak. She changed topics, "When did you get glasses?"

Andy frowned as he pulled them off his face and looked at them almost as if he was surprised to find them on his face, "Oh, about five years ago now, I guess. I don't like the way I look in them, and besides, I really only need them for close up reading, which I am not doing that much of at work. What I need to do, I can do without my glasses."

Sharon crossed her arms as she listened to Andy's justification for not wearing his glasses, "So, you mean to tell me that glasses, which are designed to help you read, you won't bring to work where you do spend time reading-often financial reports for Chief Johnson-because you don't like how they look?"

Andy thought a moment, shrugging into a facial expression, "Yeah, I guess it is. Why?"

Sharon just hummed at him, nodding, "Glasses," she nodded again, a small smile on her face. She really needed to find that remote again before she blurted out she liked the glasses; she liked the glasses a lot. Instead, she toned it down, "They are a good look for you. Very distinguished," she nodded.

"I'll take that under advisement," he offered a small smile to her, putting his book on the nightstand and his glasses on top of the book. "Oh, I took the liberty to make up your makeshift bed over there," he smirked. Sharon popped up from where she was bent over, leaning into her bag and turned to look at him again.

"Hmm, I won't be needing that," she simply said. She heard Andy let out a low chuckle. Somehow, she knew he was pushing the limits of the room's audio surveillance.

"Why's that, Captain?" he flashed a grin at her knowing full well after the major developments they'd gone through over the last day, Sharon wouldn't think of sleeping on the couch. Sharon had to give Andy credit; he had played the part and setup her bed on the couch.

"Apparently, I injure myself sleeping there," she said, taking the safe route. "My ankle is still a bit sore from my tussle last night. Besides, I've decided that if you irritate me, you can sleep there. Snoring too, although, sleeping there won't fix the snoring, but it would move it a bit further away.

He frowned at her, a playful look on his face, "I don't snore."

"Okay," she flashed a playful smile at him. "I told you the same last night, and I still say if you snore you're gone."

Andy made a big production of flipping back the bedding on her side of the bed, "If you like, I'll share the bed again, Captain." He smiled at her again almost causing Sharon to start laughing.

"How kind," Sharon nodded. She finished putting on her hand cream and walked to the side of the bed. She sat down and then turned to sit back against the headboard. She closed her eyes and sighed, "Oh, I didn't realize how exhausted I was."

"Care to watch some tv?" Andy flashed a look at Sharon indicating he was ready to turn up the volume so they could continue talking without every word being heard.

"Yes, I'm ready to turn in for the night. Do you mind getting the light?" she asked. Andy nodded and turned off the light, both settling in toward the television. He turned up the volume, and while the tv did project a bit of light, it wasn't so much that a camera could pick up on every movement. They both pulled up the bedding, almost nestling under it so they were facing each other. The light from the tv gave them just enough light to see each other.

"Hi," Sharon said softly once they were both settled and looking at each other. They had the bedding almost covering them as if they were in a tent.

"Hi," he smiled warmly. "Much better than last night." Sharon let out a small chuckle and as much of a shrug as she could while lying on her side facing Andy. "However, the flannel pj's aren't," he grimaced. She chuckled again.

"Well, do you have a better suggestion? Keep in mind any suggestion you offer has to involve me actually wearing clothing to bed. We are working, and I do get cold," she smiled.

He nodded, "Well, in the interest of the LAPD and of course, to keep you warm enough, I do," he grinned. He had one hand moving as if he was searching for something and then produced it. "Here you go," he flashed a lopsided grin.

It was dark enough Sharon couldn't see what he'd handed her, but she felt along the bedding until she got hold of it and pulled it toward her. "A shirt?" she questioned.

"Highly exciting, I know," he offered, "but it's one of my LAPD shirts. I packed extra. I know it's big, but it would work for bed. Plus, what says working more than an LAPD t-shirt?" he pointed out. Sharon burst out laughing as she held onto the shirt.

"I love you," she said quietly when she calmed down. "Gosh, it feels good to admit that. It's been too long since I've said that, Andy, but you still know exactly what to say in every situation. Thank you for the shirt, but I don't really want to get up to change."

"There was no part of that statement that suggested you get up to change. As far as I'm concerned, you can change right here. Those flannels have got to go. For one, after you hobbled over here to bed, you were burning up all night in them. Two, well, I'd rather see you in the shirt," he grinned.

"Fine," Sharon nodded, and she quickly maneuvered herself out of her flannel pajamas and into the t-shirt. "Better?" she asked.

"Much," he smiled peacefully. "Great show."

"You are terrible," she sighed at him. "You should feel honored; yours is the first guy's shirt I've worn."

Andy pulled back a bit surprised, "You never put on any of Jack's shirts? Ever?"

She shook her head, "No, it just wasn't us. Well, there wasn't much us ever. I just didn't wear his shirts."

"Huh," Andy said taking in Sharon's statement. "So, the first guy's shirt you've worn, huh? No other guy shirt?"

Sharon shook her head, "No, so thank you. Andy, Jack is the only one ever, the only man I've ever been with, even after everything." She bit her lip as she scooted a bit closer to him, and in even more hushed tones said, "I hope you realize that while it should have only ever just been you, I admittingly messed that up a long time ago, but since then, it's only been Jack.

"So, you're saying-" Andy started to say, moving Sharon's hair off her face for her since her arm was propping up her head. She cut him off.

"I'm saying I wouldn't be discussing this with you unless I felt necessary. I messed up once with you and don't plan to do it again. I kicked Jack out a long time ago, and well," she sighed, trying to breathe so she could continue, "it's been a very long time. Once we finish the case, well," she smiled. She shook her head, even unable to finish the sentence.

"My, my, Captain Raydor that sounded like you were propositioning me-an upstanding police lieutenant, a lower ranking officer, and while in an undercover op," he grinned. She chuckled, burying her face in her hand in embarrassment. She felt Andy rubbing his thumb over her arm and finally looked up to meet his gaze. She leaned in to kiss him, there somewhat under the cover of darkness. They kissed a few moments before it became too heated, and she pulled back smiling at him. He returned the smile.

"You look very sexy in those glasses," she admitted to him. "You should wear them more often, even to work."

"Well, the same could be said of you in the LAPD shirt. I know it's nothing spectacular, but it's a huge improvement over the flannel," he stated. Sharon shook her head at him. "I hate to break it to you, though," he paused and continued, "with Provenza around, I'll never wear them at work. That guy wouldn't let me live it down."

Sharon let out a giggle and said, "I hate to break it to you too, but like you, I won't be wearing this at work," she pulled on the shirt. "Work consists of suits, dresses, or the official uniform. I won't be showing up in just the LAPD shirt."

He groaned as if he wanted to protest, but then said, "Would it be weird to say I have a love/hate relationship with this case?" Sharon grinned at that.

"Sounds like how we could describe our relationship over the years," she added. "No, I agree. I hate being involved in this case, but it brought us here, forced us to talk, and well," she motioned between them, "who would have ever put us right here, right now?"

"Not me, for sure," he sighed. "Can I hold you?"

"I'd like that," Sharon smiled warmly at him. "Ready to turn off that sound? As nice as it has been to talk, it's driving me crazy, and at this point, we probably should get some rest."

He eyed her, "I'll turn it off, but on what planet do you think that I'll be able to rest when I'm holding you? Sharon, I'm so happy, I can barely contain myself." Andy fumbled for the remote, turning off the tv. The silence in the room was odd after they'd had so much noise. Now, with the light of the tv gone, the room was very dark. Both could be heard moving around in the bed until Sharon had moved closer to Andy, and he'd wrapped his arms around her. She sighed with contentment when they got comfortable. Andy kissed the side of her head, while she ran her fingers up and down his hand.

"Does this motion still put you to sleep?" she asked.

"Hmm," he sighed happily, "running your fingers up and down my arm, yeah. You always had the lightest touch, and that seemed to always put me right to sleep."

"It's been 30 years, Andy," she said quietly. "It's nice to know some things have not changed, but it's going to take some time to get to really know each other again."

He whispered in her ear, "If you are willing to let me back in, I've got all the time in the world for you. Getting to know you again is the only thing I want to do," he also whispered. The room was quite a few moments before he whispered one more thing, "Well, I take that back. At the present moment, the one thing I want to do is get out of this wired room." Sharon almost snorted in laughter.

"Get some sleep, Andy. Tomorrow is a new day," she sighed, and before the two drifted off to sleep, she quietly said, "Andy, you still snore, just as you did 30 years ago."

"I plead the fifth," he mumbled into her hair, as she pulled him closer, finally drifting off to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

"Who is calling, and what time is it?" Andy grumbled as Sharon fumbled around for the phone. They both heard her phone that had been on the nightstand hit the floor. Sharon shifted out from under Andy's arm to locate the phone. Her hand also knocked her glasses off the nightstand. Andy moved, trying to roll toward his nightstand to turn on the light. It was early, but not that early. The light was coming in through the drawn curtains, but the room was still mostly dark.

"It's my mom," Sharon sighed, as she crawled around on the floor. "It must be around 7:00 here. She always calls me early on Sunday, after they get back from Mass," she explained as she continued to look for her glasses. "Where are my glasses?" She'd located her phone and was still in search of her glasses. Andy was peaking over the side to see if he could help her.

"Hi, Mom," Sharon said as she cleared her throat and answered the phone. She was still trying to locate her glasses.

"Next to your foot, there, Sharon," he commented, pointing at her glasses. She grabbed them and stood up as she tried to focus on the call. She said a silent "thank you" to Andy as he scooted back over and turned off the light again, as she sat down on the bed to take the call.

"Oh, who was that?" she laughed, nervously into the phone. "Ahh, well, I'm on an undercover assignment," she said to her mom with a bit of a panicked expression. Andy quietly chuckled as he got comfortable. He pulled up the bedding to rest on his side where he could look at Sharon as she spoke with her mom. She sat up against the headboard, and Andy pulled some of the bedding over her legs.

"No, it's not dangerous, Mom, and yes, even I have to do undercover work sometimes. Where? Oh, well, I'm at a hotel now," she explained. "No! I'm not breaking up a prostitution ring! That's not all that we do at hotels. Mom, you watch too many crime shows. No, it's tangled with the FBI, smuggling group. Where am I now? I'm in my hotel room. The voice?" she looked to Andy and shrugged. He smiled at her and began drawing lines up and down her arm while she spoke. "I'm playing the part of a married couple in this, so," she trailed off, hoping to not have to explain more. Andy could tell her mom must be speaking because Sharon was silent for a few moments. She decided to scoot down to get more comfortable, and Andy adjusted too so he could hold her to his side. "No, I'm with an LAPD Lieutenant, Mom," she rolled her eyes at Andy. "Yes, we stayed in the same room. That's part of the undercover thing. His name?" she looked to Andy. He chuckled, shaking his head; Sharon's mom was not letting this go.

Andy had met Sharon's parents on several occasions when they had been dating. He had liked them very much, and they really seemed to like him. He hadn't realized her parents were even still alive until they'd worked a case together over Christmas where she had mentioned having to miss seeing them due to work. With Sharon at his side now, he began running his hand up and down her back. He made sure the bedding was adjusted and the lighting was dim so that if anyone was at the monitors, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

"Well, it's Lieutenant Flynn," she finally said. "We're trying to finish this case. What was that?" Sharon asked again. "Yes, Mom," she sighed, "I can't fool you. Yes, it's Andy." Andy stilled his hand and pulled back to meet Sharon's gaze. He used the hand that hand been running up and down her back to gesture to the room, reminding Sharon that anyone could be listening.

"Oh, crap," she mumbled, moving quickly out of bed to the bathroom where she could hopefully get her mom off the phone. She definitely didn't need to have this conversation with listening ears. Andy watched her scurry out of bed and whistled at her in admiration with the retreating form. He'd missed her, her long legs, her perfect skin over the years, and here she was, in his old LAPD shirt running to the bathroom.

Andy fumbled for the television remote while Sharon was in the bathroom speaking to her mom. He wasn't interested in watching anything, but he knew he'd want to talk to Sharon when she finished.

Sharon managed to get inside the bathroom before she gave anything more away. Then, she continued, "Yes, Mom, it's Andy. No, the irony is not lost on me that we're working together, portrayed as a married couple. I haven't mentioned him because generally we've been able to avoid each other at work, but we were hand picked for this task. Yes," she said, answering questions from her mom. "Yes, we have had to stay in the same room. It's been challenging, but quite honestly, it's been very good. It's been a healing experience, and well, we talked through a lot. No, I don't want to get into it further right now. We still have work to do, and I need to get ready for the day. Okay, love you too, and tell Dad I love him as well. I'll call you in a day or so when we wrap this up. Bye," she said and slumped against the counter. After she made herself a little more presentable, she opened the door to find that Andy still hadn't gotten out of bed. Well, it looked like he actually had because the curtains were drawn even tighter. Sharon realized just how grateful she was for blackout shades and the noise of the tv. She met Andy's gaze as she walked toward him.

He patted her spot in the bed and gave her a questioning glance. She smiled, crawled back in, and got situated on her side to look at him.

"Morning," he said quietly.

"Morning," she replied. "Sorry about that," she rolled her eyes. "My parents always call that early on Sundays. They go to early Mass and call me. I'm normally up, but still," she sighed, shaking her head. "Old habits and stuck in their ways. Hopefully, they will recover from hearing you this morning. It's been decades since they've heard a man in the background for their Sunday call."

"Sharon," he chuckled, "it's fine. So, how did you talk you way out of that one? The one thing I remember about your mom is she is a bloodhound. Your keen detective skills come from somewhere. She might not be a detective herself, but man, she acts like one."

Sharon grinned at him, "Yes, that is very true. She said to tell you hello and was pleasantly surprised to hear we were working together. I only told her it had been a very healing weekend for us."

"Very good few days," he grinned, leaning in to peck her on the lips. "Yeah, very good," he smiled, content. Sharon wanted more, so she pulled him toward her for another kiss. They were on thin ice; daylight was starting to peak through the blackout shades, and there was only so much the tv could muffle. Their kiss continued, Sharon rolling them over, and as things started to intensify, Andy stopped them.

"The room," he grumbled. Sharon nodded, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. She shifted, rolling away, and sprang into action, pulling Andy along with her. She pulled him to the bathroom, a move that surprised Andy. He couldn't move fast enough, almost tripping as he tried to climb out of the bed. Once they were in the bathroom, he closed the door, and the two continued kissing. They were starting to get carried away when they heard, "Room Service."

Both froze. Both panicked. Both stared at each other, not sure what to do. They were flushed, out of breath, and while clothes were still intact, they were obviously disheveled. Sharon sprang into action, turning on the shower and then quickly shoving Andy out the door.

"Lieutenant?" Julio questioned as Andy popped out of the bathroom. He was still unsure how he had ended up on this side of the door, not that he'd want Sharon to have to deal with Julio, especially in his LAPD t-shirt and nothing else covering her, but she'd moved so quickly, it had surprised him.

"Man, you're both in the bathroom this morning?" he chuckled. "What is it with that bathroom?"

Andy grumbled under his breath, "You have no idea," he added, hoping to convince Julio he'd not been in there doing anything more than dropping off items for Sharon. "Umm, morning, Julio," Andy said, trying to think quickly. "Sorry, she left her toiletry items out here and asked if I'd put them on the counter for her. Women," he shrugged, throwing out a nervous laugh as he tried to play off the situation. Julio definitely didn't need to know the two had been in the middle of a heated make-out session.

"It's awfully dark in here. You okay?' he asked. Andy sat on the side of the bed to compose himself, "Yeah, just haven't opened the blinds. I was still snoozing a bit when she yelled out for help," he added. "You're welcome to open them."

Julio nodded and opened the curtains, as Andy looked over to where Sharon was supposed to have slept. The couch was a bit disheveled, but only because Andy had made up the bed like he wrapped presents. It wasn't a very good job, but thankfully, it looked like someone had slept there. He looked down near his own feet, seeing Sharon's flannel pajamas there. She'd thrown them to the floor last night when she'd changed into Andy's shirt, and now Andy needed to make sure Julio didn't make it any further into the room. A pile of Sharon's clothing on the floor, right next to the bed didn't look good, even if nothing of that nature had actually happened.

"You sleep okay, Sir?" Julio asked, moving around in the room. He put the breakfast he'd brought on the table for the two of them.

"Yeah, fine," Andy waved him off.

"How about the captain? No moaning or limping around this morning?" he asked.

Andy eyed him, wondering if he was making small talk or somehow onto them. Julio appeared to be making small talk as he put their food out for them, so Andy answered, "Nah, her mom even called this morning, so it's been eventful so far."

"The captain's mom called?" Julio chuckled. "Hard to believe she has a mom, you know. I mean, I realize she does have a mom, but she's just so in charge and well, so, so the captain, funny to think of her on the phone with her mom."

Andy chuckled, as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "Oh, yeah, well, she obviously gets her attitude and personality from her mom." As soon as Andy said that he wanted to curse out loud. He had to be more careful than that; it came so naturally to him that he'd known Sharon and her family for decades. He had to correct that quickly, "I mean, I heard just part of the conversation, and Sharon was trying to explain away things, defend herself. Sounded like her mom was really grilling her, giving her a piece of her mind," he chuckled, again a bit nervously.

Julio grinned, "Sure that was funny to hear," he added. "Okay, hope your breakfast is okay. I am sure you are ready to get out of this room, and I have to say, Sir, we're all impressed you've held out this long with the captain. You've done a remarkable job holding back."

Andy's eyes grew large, wondering exactly what Julio meant by that statement. Andy knew what HE thought about that statement, but certainly Julio couldn't mean the same thing as Andy was thinking. He gave a questioning glace to Julio.

"Sorry?" Andy asked, waiting for clarification.

"Oh, it's just that the team has a bet going," he grinned. "Sir, if you can get through this without killing each other, I win, so I'm begging you, whatever you need to do, just don't get into a screaming match. Provenza didn't even give you the first day without losing your temper with her. He's already out. Mike and Buzz are still competing with me. Gabriel is out too, as it Cooper. So, I'd appreciate it if you can tolerate her for the duration of this."

Andy grinned, "Julio, I won't let you down."

"Thank you, Sir. I'll make sure you get lucky too."

Andy groaned, again, certainly whatever Julio had just said couldn't be what he was thinking. He tilted his head, looking at Julio, "Lucky?"

"Yeah, it'll be your lucky day too. I'll give you a cut of whatever I make," he nodded.

"Oh, um, you keep it, Julio. I'm good," he waved him off. "Just will be glad to finish this whole thing. Any change to the plans for the day?"

"No, Sir, just have the captain confirm the meeting time when she finishes in the bathroom. I'll get going and let you get ready for the day. That look probably isn't going to cut it," he chuckled nodding to Andy.

Andy glanced down at his t-shirt and boxers, rolling his eyes. "Hey, I didn't sign up for this. I got assigned this task, so deal with it. You and everyone else show up while I'm still in bed, so be glad it's me and not Provenza."

"Noted, Sir," Julio chuckled. "Better than the captain in flannel pajamas, too. Say, did she have another pair?"

"Of course she did, Julio," Andy rolled his eyes. "Now, I'll have her relay the morning plans when she gets dressed," Andy added as he walked to the door and opened it for Julio. Julio got the hint and walked to the door.

"Be careful this morning, Sir, and I'll talk to you later," he nodded and was gone. Andy sighed as he closed the door. He looked around the room, remembering that as of now, anyone could be watching and listening to them. He walked back to the cup of coffee he'd poured and decided to check out breakfast. More fruit, oatmeal, and this time, they'd sent up some pancakes. It looked like there was plenty for both, so he made a quick effort of setting up their meal.

Once that was done, he picked out his clothing for the day, and as he was doing that, Sharon opened the bathroom door, also aware that they could be seen and heard. "I'm done with the shower if you would like to have a turn. I'm just working on my makeup."

He nodded, "Okay, you're welcome to use the mirror there while I shower. I don't mind," he winked to her as he brushed by her in the bathroom. With that, she closed the door so at least they would have a bit of privacy as they finished getting ready for the day.

Andy turned on the shower and then back to Sharon, "I think we're okay. He didn't seem to worried about both of us in the bathroom."

"How is that possible?" Sharon asked. "Andy, it's a hotel room, and we were both in a bathroom with the door closed."

"Yeah, I told him you'd forgotten your toiletries, and he didn't seem to concerned. Besides, it's Julio. He won't say anything more of it, no matter what he thinks. That's the kind of guy he is. Of all the team members who could have walked in here, he's the safest."

Sharon let out a chuckle, "Imagine if your partner had walked in on us," she covered her mouth as another chuckle slipped out.

"Yeah, well, for that guy, I probably would have yelled at him, told him I was busy with a beautiful woman, and he needed to get out. So, probably best on several accounts it wasn't Provenza. You look nice," he grinned at her, eyeing her from head to toe.

Sharon could feel herself blushing as the compliments coming from Andy were going to take some getting used to again. "Thank you," she nodded. She had on a low cut top and capri pants for the day. "I figure our suspect would appreciate the top."

"Well, I do too," Andy chuckled, "anytime. This casual look of yours is pretty hot, Sharon."

"Down boy," she chuckled. "I'm going to get out of here before it looks odd on camera," she explained.

"I'll hop in the shower. Breakfast is out there," he informed her. "So, back to before-everything okay with your mom?"

"Oh, fine," Sharon nodded. "I think if she had your phone number, she would have already called you. Deep down, she has always wanted us to get back together. My parents have always hated Jack."

"Well, no argument there from me about any of that," he smiled. "Now, go eat."

"I'll wait for you," she smiled.

"Go ahead and eat, Sharon. Don't let the food get cold," he told her.

As she was leaving the bathroom, she turned, "Andy, I'll always wait for you."


	17. Chapter 17

Sharon decided to setup the morning meeting while Andy was finishing in the shower. As hungry as she was, and she realized she was actually really hungry, she wanted to wait to eat with Andy. She had been serious when she said she'd wait for him-she would wait for him forever. She realized that she'd messed up her life when she'd told him no all those years ago and walked away. The resulting problems, while yes, were not just things she did, but she knew she'd started the avalanche of problems that had messed up not only her life, but Andy's too, as well as others who'd been in each of their lives. The past was the past; it couldn't be changed, but she was going to spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to Andy. She'd wait for him now and from now on. He meant too much to her, she was finally admitting. She wasn't going to walk away from him, not again.

She was frowning at her phone when Andy opened the bathroom door. He poked his head out, still half-dressed to see if she was eating.

"Sharon, go ahead and eat. I hate that you are letting the food get cold," he sighed at her.

"I'm fine," she waved at him, "well, I was. It seems we have a glitch with our meeting this morning."

"Oh?" he asked, walking out in his pants and undershirt. He was working on his shirt and had his hairbrush in hand. "What's wrong?"

"Well," she put her hand on her hip and pursed her lips deep in thought, "I suggested meeting him at 10:00 this morning as we discussed. He said he's meeting us for brunch downstairs, no arguments. He's already reserved a table."

"Us?" he asked. "He wants both of us to meet him or is that just you?"

"He actually said both of us," she showed him her phone to see the message. Andy walked over to stand next to Sharon where he could read the phone messages. He frowned too.

"So, he actually called me the deadbeat husband with the checkbook? Guess we are better at this than we thought," he rolled his eyes.

Sharon patted his arm, "I can only imagine the name he has for me," she hummed as she sighed. "I guess we need to alert the team the plans have changed."

Andy was one step ahead of her and already had his phone out to send a message to Brenda. He nodded to Sharon, "Already on it. Now, will you sit and eat? I don't think we'll be eating much meeting that dirt bag for brunch. I know I won't have an appetite, but we can at least eat this food Julio brought."

"I will if you are eating too," she nodded. He nodded to her, holding her chair for her as she sat at the small table there in the room. Andy finished typing out his text and then sat across from her. With the cameras and all, they didn't say much, but began to dish out their food.

"I thought you said you were hungry," Andy asked quizzingly. Sharon looked up, head tilted to meet his gaze.

"I am," she replied.

"One pancake," he rolled his eyes, using his fork to put another on her plate. "Eat Sharon; that's an order."

"You can't order me around. I outrank you," she smirked at him. He rolled his eyes at her before he flashed a fake grin.

"My mom always told me never to trust women who ate like birds. My ex-wife used to eat like that, like she was afraid to eat in front of me. Once had a long-time girlfriend that wasn't afraid to eat, back when I was young. I could take her to baseball games, and she could usually eat more Dodger Dogs than I could. I miss that," he grinned.

Sharon nodded, trying to not laugh. Of course, Andy was talking about her, but to anyone listening, that didn't need to be explained. Instead, she shrugged, "Well, it's clear to me that if you want to spend time with someone who enjoys eating Dodger Dogs, perhaps you should find someone to take to the games. I'm sure the right woman would enjoy that. And now, because it's already been thrown on my plate and is partially covered in syrup now, I'll eat this second pancake."

"Good," Andy grinned, as he continued to chew. "Can't have you wasting away on me, Captain, because you are watching your weight in front of me."

"I'm doing no such thing!" Sharon exclaimed.

Andy shrugged, "Well, just know that I hope you will always eat whatever you want. No reason to starve yourself." He smiled as he went back to eating. It was silent until a knock came to the door.

Andy jumped up, his hand on his weapon, and Sharon rolled her eyes. "Andy," she whispered, "do you really think anyone wanting to harm us would be knocking? Besides, you sent that text to the chief. I'm sure it's someone from the team."

Andy checked the peephole and nodded to her, taking his hand off his gun as he opened the door. "Fritz, Chief," he nodded, and the two walked into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt breakfast," Fritz explained after he surveyed the room and saw they had been eating. "Captain, we got your text about the change of plans. What else can you tell us?"

"He said he wanted to meet downstairs for brunch, and that he had a table already reserved. I didn't know how hard to push back to try and get him to come here to the room. What would you like me to do?" Sharon asked.

"We can put people downstairs, Captain," Brenda nodded. "Fritzy and I discussed the change, and we can make it happen. It's more public than we would like, but this way, Andy will be there too. Just do as we planned-tell him you want the wine, pay for it, take possession, and we'll then bring him in for questioning. After the wine has been tested, we can then hopefully arrest him."

"Okay," Sharon nodded. "I think we can make that all happen, and hopefully, it won't be an issue being there in the restaurant."

"Amy, who as you know, is one of Lt. Cooper's people, will be your waitress. We'll make sure to have a few others nearby. I think we can put Julio near the kitchen too. Fritzy and I will be outside in our surveillance van with Lt. Provenza," Brenda explained.

"Well, I'm much more comfortable with the two of us meeting this dirt bag," Andy explained. "Never liked the idea of sending her alone. I don't like using women cops as bait."

"Andy, we're going to make sure you are both safe," Fritz put his hand on Andy's shoulder. "Look, we are going to let you finish breakfast now. It's the least we can do since we've been monitoring just about every second of your lives the last couple of days. 10:00 downstairs," Fritz nodded. Sharon and Andy returned the nod.

Once they had left, Sharon and Andy sat to finish their breakfast. Sharon spoke, "I guess I should maybe change? What do you think? I thought pants would be fine when things were going to occur here in the room, but if we are going to brunch, maybe I should wear a dress?"

Andy thought a moment, "Yeah, probably a good idea, and as much as I hate suggesting this because the guy is a total dirt bag who drools almost anytime he sees you, but yeah, you are probably right that a dress would be best. It will hopefully keep him distracted enough to wrap up this case. I'd at least feel better being there with you as that guy stares you down. I hate that you are put in this position to basically sell yourself as bait."

"It's fine, Andy. I can handle it. It's just a dress, and yes, I brought a few of Emily's things. As I said, hers were a little more revealing than I normally would want, but perfect for this job."

He nodded, and the two finished breakfast. After they were done, Sharon went to the closet where she had a few dress options hanging up. Andy helped her select the best one for the morning.

Sharon changed her clothes, and once she had done that, the two gathered their things to head to the lobby. It wasn't until they were on the elevator that Andy said what had been driving him nuts since Sharon had changed.

"II swear, Sharon, that dress, you're killing me," he groaned. He glanced at her, noting her cheeks were now flushed, and she was grinning.

"Do you have an issue with you outfit, Lieutenant?" she said sweetly, now turning to smile at him.

"Yeah, I do," he rolled his eyes. "It's very distracting, Captain. I don't think I'm worth much as a detective if I have to sit and stare at that." Sharon was wearing a baby blue colored dress, halter style with an open back that hugged her in all the right places and then had a small flared skirt. It was short, really short, but Sharon knew it would do the trick. It was definitely a dress probably better suited for a 20-something, but she could make anything look amazing. She'd told Andy it had been one of Emily's very favorite dresses and was only at the condo because Emily had forgotten it on her last visit. It had gone out with Sharon's dry cleaning, and Emily was already back in New York when Sharon picked up the dry cleaning. So, here it was, again, another very un-Sharon dress, but it fit her, maybe too well. Andy wasn't sure he was going to make it through lunch without needing a cold shower. He tugged on his earlobe instead. "You look really beautiful," he smiled as his fingers grazed hers in a quick squeeze.

Sharon winked at him, "Thank you. I'm impressed with the light blue tie. It matches this dress," she turned and ran her hand down his tie. He grinned at her.

"Well, I like matching you I've decided," he explained.

"I like it too," she nodded. "I think this gray suit of yours is my favorite."

They got off the elevator and were met with a bustling lobby. Andy put his hand on Sharon's back to walk with her toward the restaurant. Sharon relaxed at his touch, smiling at him when his hand met the skin of her back.

The two didn't need to address the hostess; Brian was visible from the restaurant entrance, so they made their way to his table. He stood, smiling at the pair, and Andy could tell the guy had already thrown back a few morning cocktails.

"Ahh, Mr. and Mrs. Brock," he smiled, a very sloppy smile at that. The guy appeared to already be drunk. "Please sit," he motioned the seat next to him, "Mrs. Brock, please join me here."

Sharon sat in the chair indicated, and Andy sat across from her. Brian was now in between the two of them. Brain immediately zoned in on Sharon, "Wow, another amazing dress." He turned to Andy, "What I wouldn't do to find a woman like your wife."

Andy, who was trying to keep cool and play his part, even though he wanted to strangle the dirt bag, just waved him off, "Your credit card might think otherwise," Andy chuckled. "Cristin here sure does give my credit card a workout."

"Yes," Brian nodded, "which is why we are here this morning. I brought the bottles you wanted to purchase." Brian reached down to the box he had with him, producing one of the bottles. He handed it to Andy.

"Mr. Brock, your wife has exquisite taste. This is one of our finest, and she enjoyed sampling it last evening. Now, there is one more, here," he held up the second bottle. Andy took both in his hands and looked at them. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing, but he pretended to study the wine. Sharon decided to help him out, so she stood and moved behind Andy. She leaned over him, putting her hands on his shoulders, to point out the wine's specialties, playing her part well. It was almost too much for Andy. Sharon, leaning over his shoulder, in that dress. He wasn't sure he could handle it, and then add in her perfume, all lavender scent. It was all he could do to not turn in his seat and kiss her senselessly.

It was at this moment, the table heard, "Andrew Flynn! You're drinking again? What is wrong with you?" All eyes snapped up to see Andy's family, Sandra, the husband-Andy's replacement, and both of his kids-standing there in shock. Sandra continued, "Who is this?" she gestured to Sharon, who from their angle, looked like she was hanging all over Andy. "I see you've moved from blondes to brunettes. What? Date all the blondes in this city under 30 and had to move on? You should be ashamed of yourself drinking again!"

"What?" Andy asked. "I'm not drinking again," he said, but as he said it, realized that he was holding two bottles of wine in his hands and the table was set with three glasses of Bloody Mary's for the morning. "The wine isn't mine, and don't treat Sharon like that." He sighed and was about to say something else, but then he realized his cover, their cover had been blown.

"Sharon? The Sharon?" Sandra asked.

"Andrew Flynn? Sharon?" Brian jumped up. "What is going on? You said you were Todd and Cristin Brock," Brian stated as he glanced between Andy and Sharon. Sharon had stood up since she'd been hanging over Andy. Brian took one glance at them, glanced around and met with stares from other undercover officers, and he bolted for the door. Because of the seating, he darted away from Andy and Sharon, so they were unable to quickly follow him. Andy had other problems with his whole family there, glaring at him.

"Hold on," he turned to them. "Just sit and don't say another word! I'm working!" he replied, and with that, he chased after Sharon who was already a few steps ahead of him. Amy had been the first to chase after Brian, and when Andy and Sharon reached the lobby area, they found he'd already been detained by Mike, who had been watching things from the door.

Andy caught up to Sharon, clutching her arm. "Crap," he sighed. "We can't get him on anything, can we? We never bought the wine; Sandra interrupted the whole thing."

Sharon shook her head, sighing too, "I don't think so. We can have that wine tested, but he can always deny it too." Her head slumped as the two realized all their hard work had just been interrupted.

Sharon heard Andy let out a loud sigh, as she was hanging her own head. Andy put his hand on her back to guide her to the group where Brenda, Fritz, and Provenza had appeared.

"Chief, I'm sorry," Andy sighed.

"Flynn! Your ex-wife had to blow this whole thing! Son of a-" he smacked his hand, and the whole team shook their heads in agreement. Andy nodded too.

"Yeah, I know," Andy sighed. "I don't even know what to say."

For now, they were going to detain Brian while they tested the wine. They knew they might have a case with his other clients, which is something that would be handled by the FBI. They had been building a database of people he'd scammed, so all hope wasn't lost, but Major Crimes was most likely out of the case.

They all stood around talking about the case for another 10 minutes or so. Once they were ready to escort Brian downtown where he'd be further questioned by Major Crimes and the FBI, the group started to break up.

"Lieutenant Flynn," Brenda called to him, as he and Sharon both stood there, waiting for further instructions. "I know you both have to pack up your things upstairs, not to mention deal with your family here," she nodded to the restaurant where they could tell Andy's ex-wife and kids were still waiting. "Since we've had you under surveillance all weekend, take your time. Pack up, deal with your family, and we will handle him today. Besides, we can hold him for 48 hours, so we just might let him sit a bit. Take the rest of the day, and I'll see you first thing tomorrow. Captain, I expect the same for you. I'll pass it along to Chief Pope personally. You've done a wonderful job and at the very least, deserve the rest of the day. We can debrief in the morning."

"Thank you, Chief," Sharon nodded to her.

"Thanks, Chief," Andy sighed. "Again, I'm sorry about my family. I had no idea they'd even be here. I still don't know what they are doing here. This isn't their normal place to eat."

"Well, I only briefly spoke with your daughter, Nicole is it? She said her roommate is a waitress here and got them setup for brunch today. It sounds like an innocent mistake. It happens," she shrugged. "Hopefully, Fritzy can proceed with this case after things get sorted. Believe me, I know how irritating family can be," Brenda chuckled as she offered a small smile. She nodded to both Andy and Sharon and then walked over to speak to Provenza.

Sharon and Andy were about to go and deal with Andy's family when Fritz stopped them. The lobby was clearing out now, and he was the only one near them. "Andy," he called to him as Andy and Sharon and turned to walk toward the restaurant. Both stopped and turned back to Fritz.

"Fritz, again, I'm so sorry," he sighed. "Ex-wives," he groaned. "They can ruin more than you ever imagine."

Fritz offered a sympathetic smile, "We'll get him. Doing this," he motioned his hand around at the restaurant, "out in public, well, it was a gamble. Things happen, but the FBI can hopefully work with what we do have," he added. "I just wanted to thank you both and tell you good work. You both did an amazing job under tense circumstances. I hope that Brenda told you to take the rest of the day."

"She did," Sharon smiled slightly as she nodded. "We've got to pack up our things."

Fritz nodded, "Sure, I don't want to keep you. Take your time, and I just wanted to let you know that all the surveillance equipment has been removed from the room. I know that was difficult." Andy and Sharon both nodded in agreement, and Fritz continued. "You know," he stated, scratching his head "we got that all setup, and then I did a double check to make sure everything was working okay yesterday afternoon."

The way Fritz said it, the way he looked at them, both Andy and Sharon knew Fritz had witnessed their heated make out session the day before. They both met each other's gaze, eyes wide, and they turned back to Fritz.

"Fritz, look," Andy held up his hand to try and explain.

"I need to get going," Fritz nodded, interrupting Andy. "I just wanted to let you know about the room and remind you that we had to reserve it for the whole day. The reservation ends tomorrow. Good luck dealing with your family, Andy. I won't ask about your ex-wife's 'The Sharon' comment either."

Sharon groaned as she grimaced, while Andy felt the need to explain, "Fritz, please, this isn't what you think."

"Probably not," Fritz shrugged. "All I know is you two are both single adults, and the entire police force thinks you hate each other. I should probably offer you both jobs with your ability to keep things quiet," he chuckled. "Whatever it is, it's not my business. I'll see you both at work tomorrow."

Neither moved after Fritz left. They were too stunned to do anything. Finally, Sharon sighed, "Well, if that wasn't enough fun, you realize you still need to deal with your family."

"Yeah," Andy groaned, as he let out a sigh. "Just give me a few minutes," he told her.

Now, with the team gone, the FBI gone, and just Andy and Sharon left standing there in the hotel lobby among guests they didn't know, Sharon laced her hand though his. He looked down at their joined hands, and she shrugged. "I'll always wait for you, Andy, but that also means, I'll always be there for you too. Let's deal with your family. I've never officially met them all."


	18. Chapter 18

"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up for work?" Provenza mocked Andy as he strolled into the Murder Room Monday morning. It was almost 10:00. He'd gotten a text message from the chief telling him that they would debrief at 10:00, and he wasn't needed before that. Knowing that and her insistence he take the rest of the day before off when the undercover op had gone awry, he had decided to take the chief's gracious offer to show up just before 10:00.

"Hey, I'm here. I showed up when I was supposed to come in. If you had forgotten already, I spent the weekend with the division watching my almost every move," Andy snipped at him. "Doesn't look like you are doing much work there," he nodded to Provenza.

Provenza was sitting at his desk, feet up, working on his crossword puzzle. "Well, we've got your favorite suspect sweating it out in there. We've been at it today since 7:30. Just waiting on our very favorite special agents from the FBI to let us know what to do with him. For now," Provenza looked around the room to the others, "we're in a holding pattern."

Andy nodded, taking a seat at his desk and sighing. He sat back and closed his eyes, turning his chair toward the room. "You know, Lieutenant, you are supposed to look that tired at the END of the day, not the beginning," Julio joked with Andy. Andy just grunted and waved him off.

"There you are, Lieutenant," Andy heard Brenda say as he could tell she was walking through the Murder Room. He opened his eyes and sat up in his chair.

"Morning, Chief," he offered a wave. "Are we doing this debriefing here?"

"As soon as we can locate Captain Raydor," Brenda said with a hint of irritation. "I know she's here in the building. She was in early; her car was just down from mine this morning, but I haven't seen her yet. Guess she was trying to get caught up on the work from her own division. Any idea where your partner in crime might be?"

Andy shrugged, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, "No idea, Chief. I'm sure if you told her 10:00, she'll be here. It's not like her to be late, as you know. She does like to follow those rules."

Truth be told, Andy didn't know EXACTLY where Sharon was at the moment Brenda asked. That much was true. Brenda didn't ask Andy if he knew where she had been the last 24 hours. That much he did know, and she hadn't been more than a few feet away from him that entire time.

A small smiled formed on his lips when he heard the distinct sound of her heels arriving in the room. He gave a casual glance toward the door, as did the rest of the division, and he caught her eye, if only just for a second. He winked at her, and he was sure he could see almost a small blush start to creep up her neck. She quickly dropped any eye contact and turned to Brenda.

"Morning, Chief," she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Captain, good morning," she replied. "I know you are busy, so let's go over things."

Andy noticed Sharon took a seat on the desk near Provenza, so he had a great view of her. He knew he needed to focus, but he couldn't help but to think back to the past 24 hours. It had been crazy with the case blowing up in their face, but also quite wonderful.

 _"You want to meet my family?" he asked, looking down at their clasped hands. The lobby had emptied of the team and FBI agents, leaving just a few guests mingling around. Sharon had gripped Andy's hand and was smiling at him. She dropped her hand from his and turned to him._

 _"Oh, I had hoped to, or I had thought you would want to introduce me. If it's not—well, I mean," she stammered._

 _"Sharon," he took her hand again, running his thumb over hers, "I'd love for you to meet my family," he grinned. "Well," he rolled his eyes, "I'd love for you to meet my kids. Sandra," he made a face, and Sharon laughed, "Sandra is another story. Her idiot husband is Brian, and the guy just rubs me the wrong way. My kids like him more than they like me, but I know I was a crappy dad when they were little. I've been working on my relationships with them for years, but we have a long way to go."_

 _Sharon smiled, "I'm not leaving your side, especially if you have to face the firing squad. I think I only met Sandra once, maybe twice in your building, gosh, 30 years ago. Wait," she stilled his arm before they began walking, "what did she mean and Fritz recount about 'The Sharon' that she said when all this blew up? I haven't had a second to ask you."_

 _"Oh, that," Andy frowned. "Well, when we first started hanging out, she knew I had come off a long relationship that hadn't ended well. She knew that my heart had been broken. We were friends for a long time before we started dating. I needed to heal, and I thought I had. I just never got over you, and then, I just didn't realize it. I had talked about you, so she'd heard your name. Then," he sighed, "I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but she said when we were married, I must have dreamed about you because I said your name in my sleep on more than one occasion."_

 _"Oh," Sharon bit her lip, nodding. "I see. Yes, 'The Sharon' would probably be an accurate description."_

 _"Yeah, nothing like saying another woman's name when you are in bed with your wife," he sighed._

 _"Let's go deal with her," Sharon tugged on his hand. "She's remarried, so let's address this head on. I'll follow your lead, but I'm not backing down or scared of this, Andy. I'm not letting you go again."_

 _He smiled, pulling her to his side, where he put his arm around her briefly as he kissed her head. He tugged tighter on her hand, making sure their fingers were laced together as they walked toward the restaurant. He looked at her in the dress when his hand touched her bare back._

 _"You are probably really uncomfortable in that dress, aren't you?" he asked._

 _She chuckled, "Yes, a bit. I now wish I'd kept on my capri pants and top, especially now that we have to address your family."_

 _Andy shrugged out of his suit jacket and put it around her, "I know this isn't perfect, but better? We'll get you changed as soon as we deal with them."_

 _"Better," she nodded. "Thank you."_

 _Andy, with Sharon's hand in his, led her to the table where his family was eating breakfast. They all looked up as he approached, Sandra jumping up out of her seat._

 _"Andy, I'm so sorry," she hung her head. "I had no idea you were here for work. I just feel terrible."_

 _Andy nodded, shaking his head at her, "Yeah, kinda blew the operation. Can we sit?" he gestured to the table, where Brian gestured for Nicole to move one way and Nathan to move the other. Andy turned and grabbed two chairs from the adjacent table and held Sharon's as she sat._

 _"Everyone," he started, as he turned to Sharon, "this is Captain Sharon Raydor, who was my partner for this undercover op. She is not," he threw a glare to Sandra, "some paid escort or whatever else you might have thought she was. She's an LAPD Captain who was playing her part in this. We were asked to do this together by the FBI and the chief of police, so let's not get nasty."_

 _Sandra sighed, as she shook her head and looked to Andy and Sharon, "Again, I'm very sorry. We walked in, and I obviously jumped to the wrong conclusions. I saw the alcohol and a woman draped over you," she shook her head. "I apologize." She turned even more to Sharon, "Captain, I am deeply sorry. He mentioned your name, and I jumped to the wrong conclusion."_

 _Sharon nodded, "Oh, I am 'The Sharon,' as you put it," she smiled sweetly at her. "We've just never had to work together until this operation. So, you did put the right Sharon to the name. Nice to officially meet you after all these years."_

 _"Wait, what's going on? Dad?" Nicole asked, obviously confused._

 _Andy glanced around the table and back to Sharon, "Sharon and I dated almost 30 years ago before I met your mom."_

 _"Oh, so like when you were starting out as cops?" Nathan asked._

 _"Sort of," Andy nodded. "I was, but she was still in college. Things didn't work out, and we went our separate ways. At work now, our divisions have to work together more and more, so here we are."_

 _"But, she outranks you," Nicole stated with a bit of a question._

 _Sharon chuckled and turned to Andy shrugging, "I do," she nodded. "I also run Internal Affairs, which has allowed me to progress in a division that most police officers don't like. We are like the police to the police, as a way to explain it."_

 _"Wow, so all this time, and you are both working in the same circles," Sandra shook her head. "Wow."_

 _Andy knew Sandra was biting her tongue, so he just put everything on the table, "Yes, we work together often. Sharon is brought in on many of the cases Major Crimes handles now. She's also my girlfriend," he said, glancing quickly to the kids._

 _He met Sharon's gaze and winked at her. She squeezed his hand tighter._

 _"Since when, Dad?" Nathan asked. "You've never mentioned her."_

 _"Look, I'm not going to get into this now. We're here now, and I wanted to sit down and introduce her as well as explain this whole work thing. We almost had the guy," he sighed._

 _"Dad, we had no idea you would be here working, Nicole said. Beth, my roommate, works here," she pointed to the other side of the room. "See, that's her over there. She got us a table for brunch today since it's Brian's birthday."_

 _"Oh, Happy Birthday," Andy said through gritted teeth with his fake smile. Sharon squeezed his hand again trying to calm him down._

 _"Thanks, Andy," Brian nodded. "Sorry this was such a mess today."_

 _"Yeah," Andy rolled his eyes and scanned the table again, "so, just to clarify, I'm not drinking. Haven't had a drink in 15 years. That was part of the undercover op. Guy was a wine smuggler, and he had been hitting on Sharon all weekend. We were about to bust him."_

 _"Sorry again, Dad," Nicole smiled. She turned to Sharon, "So, Sharon, since we have never heard about you, tell us, kids? What's your story? You've known my dad a long time, so it sounds."_

 _Sharon just nodded, "I have. I've known your dad over 30 years. I have two kids. Emily is the same age as you, Nicole, and Ricky is a year younger than you, Nathan."_

 _"Wow, sounds like you know all about us," Nicole added._

 _"I do, Nicole," Sharon offered a small smile. "I have known of you since you were born."_

 _"So, Sharon," Nathan turned to her, "does Dad spend more time with your kids than his own? He's never been around us much."_

 _"Nathan!" Andy exclaimed. Sharon squeezed his leg under the table and turned back to Nathan._

 _"My kids are out of the area," she smiled. "Emily is a professional ballet dancer in New York City, and Ricky is a computer tech guy for a firm near Stanford where he went to school. Regarding your dad, you should be very glad he's trying at all. My husband walked out on me when the kids were babies. He's never been interested in a relationship with them, which is not true of Andy. Don't waste time being bitter with him. I'd give anything for my ex-husband to have a relationship with my kids. I may not like him, but I still want him to be a good dad."_

 _The table grew quiet with Sharon's bold statement, and Andy broke the silence, "Look, we don't want to interrupt your birthday celebration. We only wanted to sit down for a few moments and clear the air. We'll let you get back to your celebration," he nodded as he stood and helped Sharon out of her chair. She clung to Andy's coat and nodded to the group._

 _"Nice to finally meet all of you," she nodded. "Nicole, Nathan, I hope to see more of you," she smiled. "Brian, lovely to meet you; Happy Birthday. Sandra, good to see you after all these years."_

 _Andy briefly reached down to hug the kids and then nodded to Sandra and Brian as he escorted Sharon out of the restaurant. Once they were back in the lobby, they laced their hands again as they continued to walk to the elevator. Once they were in the elevator, Sharon pursed her lips, glanced to Andy, and said, "What a day. It's not even noon, and what a day."_


	19. Chapter 19

"Flynn! Are you listening?" Provenza yelled to him at the same time he threw a wad of paper at him. Andy jerked in his seat to glance back at the room. He'd started to daze, thinking about yesterday. Everyone was staring at him, Sharon with a tilted head and a gesture of her eyes had him snap back to reality.

"Yeah," he sighed, waving them off. "Sorry. Headache this morning," he tried explaining. The team turned back to Brenda, but he noticed Sharon trying to catch his attention. She looked to him, and he just quickly shook his head. He tried to convey he was fine, just a bit out of it. Of course, why wouldn't he be out of it? He'd had an amazing day starting over with Sharon, starting over-he almost couldn't believe it.

 _They had barely made it into the elevator before Andy felt Sharon's hand on his neck and her lips on his. He quickly returned the kiss._

 _"That was hot," he smiled at her, "the kiss, and I might add, the way you dealt with Nathan. Both of the kids have been giving me a hard time, and I really want to clear the air with them."_

 _Sharon was standing right in front of Andy, barely an inch separating them, smiling up at him, "Well, I feel like my behavior of years ago orchestrated a lot of the problems, almost the snowball effect over the last 30 years. While I know you have your own issues with the kids, I am going to stand up for you when I can. Andy, you are a very good man, and I know you want a relationship with your kids. I meant it when I said I wished that for my kids with Jack. I hope I didn't overstep back there, but I really didn't like the way they were starting in on you," she said, her hand playing with his tie. "Plus, I knew you were outnumbered, as I am sure you are at family events, so I wanted to help even the sides a bit."_

 _He pecked her lips, "Thank you. I feel you are the first person to stand up for me, and while it's not needed, I do appreciate it. I think you blew Sandra away," he chuckled. "She was almost speechless." Sharon covered her mouth in a laugh, as the door opened to their floor. They clasped their hands again, walking to the room._

 _"So," Andy said, "ahh, umm," he scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out how to talk to Sharon about what the rest of the day might entail. Sharon pulled him into the room after he opened the door._

 _"I need to get out of this silly dress," she sighed._

 _"Okay, let's discuss the rest of the day, then," Andy nodded, putting his room key, wallet, and other items down on the table._

 _"Oh," Sharon frowned, "We can talk if you want, but well, I had other ideas."_

"Flynn!" Provenza yelled again. This time, Andy almost jumped out of his chair. Provenza was now at the board going over the evidence they had collected from the dirt bag's wine. They had a list of the other victims he'd scammed on one side of the board and then the list of wines they'd purchased on the other. "Flynn, I asked you if you could pull his financials. We finally got some movement from the FBI, so we're pushing forward while we can."

"Yeah, right," Andy nodded, turning in his chair and starting to type away on his keyboard. He was still listening to Provenza explain what the team had done this morning while starting to work on the financials. He was used to this task; Chief had started giving them to him after Daniels left, and he didn't mind. He had gotten better and scanning through things to look for financial information out of the ordinary. "Provenza, give me maybe a half hour or so on this," he nodded. Provenza wave him off while he continued.

Andy worked away until he heard Sharon start talking, and then he stopped. Sharon was recounting some of the conversation she'd had with the dirt bag during the wine tasting event the first night. He added a few things here and there as she spoke, but mostly, Sharon gave the detailed account. He continued to wait for the financials to do their thing, and while waiting, he started to daydream again.

 _They'd spent the afternoon together making up for the last 30 years. It was later that evening that Andy woke from the nap he'd fallen into to see that the daylight was fading away. He glanced over to see Sharon sprawled on him, her arm somehow contorted around his shoulder. He just looked at her sleeping, still shocked at their day. Sharon was his to love again; they were going to make things work this time. All cards on the table, no holding back, they were in this for the long haul. They'd both expressed just how miserable each had been over the course of 30 years, and they didn't want to waste more time._

 _"You're awake," she mumbled, nuzzling her face into his arm._

 _"Just woke up," he told her. "Didn't mean to wake you."_

 _"You didn't," she said quietly. "I just woke up too, and I could tell you were awake."_

 _"Yeah, good nap, but still exhausted," he chuckled._

 _"Mmm, me too," she smiled, opening her eyes to him. "Good exhausted," she leaned in to kiss him._

 _"Oh yeah," Andy smiled at her. "So, worth the wait?" he flashed a grin at her._

 _She eyed him, "Well, I wouldn't say I'd recommend waiting 30 years, but I'm glad to be with you. Andy, it should have always been you. Now, wipe that smile off you face; your ego needs to calm down."_

 _"Well, it's hard to not smile around you," he kissed her head, "let's not waste anymore time. We've wasted 30 years. Can I take your beautiful self to dinner? Let me clarify-to dinner, outside of this hotel because we've been stuck in it for the last two days, not that I'm complaining about the last few hours. They've been amazing, but I feel like we are in a bubble."_

 _She chuckled, "Like a bubble that when we leave the hotel, this will all be a dream?" she offered._

 _"Exactly," he sighed._

 _"I'd love to go to dinner with you. I guess a first date?" she offered._

 _"No," he shook his head. "We had a first date 30 years ago. This is like a renewal date. You know, people who decide to renew their vows? Well, let's call this date a renewal date, a new start."_

 _"I like that," she smiled. "I hate to disappoint, but I'm wearing my own clothing, nothing that belonged to Emily."_

 _Andy laughed, as he kissed her head again, "Luckily, I like you in anything."_

 _"Oh, I need a shower," Sharon said as she started to stretch._

 _"Let's get ready, and I'll take you to dinner. I think I've got a great place in mind."_

 _"Are you going to tell me where?" she asked._

 _He sat up, "Sure, but you'll have to drag it out of me. I'll be in the shower," he winked, as he moved quickly to the bathroom._

"Andy!" he heard again, and he turned from his computer. Thank goodness it looked like he was just waiting on financials.

"Yeah, Chief?" he asked. Brenda was irritated it appeared. He knew she wanted to finish this case, even if part of the operation had gone off course.

"Anything yet?" Brenda asked him again. "Well, I'm pulling the normal stuff we expected to see. Money transactions from several of our victims here to him. I mean, I know things fell apart with my lovely family," he rolled his eyes, "blowing things up, but we do have the right guy."

Brenda nodded, "We do. That's more than we had, and that's why I told Pope. Lt. Tao, do you have anything?"

Attention turned to Mike who started explaining the credit card statements he had pulled from the suspect. Andy was working on bank accounts, but Mike had found that purchases had been made at different places that did show bulk purchases of much cheaper wines.

Andy checked his computer and saw it was still searching. He put his jaw in the palm of his hand to wait and daydream.

 _"You know, purple has to be my favorite color on you," Andy walked up behind Sharon and kissed her neck. She was finishing her makeup to go to dinner and had on a simple flowing purple top and capri pants again. She didn't want to wear any of Emily's things, but she was also limited in what she'd brought to the hotel. They had decided on a casual spot down the street from the hotel where they could walk. It was a warm evening, and they hoped to sit on the patio outside._

 _She tilted her head to give Andy better access to kiss her, and replied, "Thank you. Purple is my favorite."_

 _"I know," he winked, moving to stand in the doorway and watch her. "I remember. You look great in anything, but purple is my favorite on you."_

 _"Mmm, I think you too," she agreed. "Those gray suits of yours with the purple ties," she nodded and smiled, "good look."_

 _"Noted," he nodded to her. "So, the bubble of the hotel is about to burst. We're leaving the building. Think this will all come crashing down on us?"_

 _"No," she shook her head, putting down her compact. She turned to him, "I think this is just the beginning. Tomorrow, we go back to work, and we'll have to figure out how to juggle this between us and work. We're allowed to date; Pope will have a heart attack when I report it, but," she shrugged, "he'll deal with it, and I'll give him a gentle reminder that if he says a word to anyone, I can pursue things through legal channels. At some point, people will hear about us, but I'm enjoying having you to myself right now. Plus, we still have a lot to talk about and need to just spend time together. I'm looking forward to all that."_

 _"I'll talk to Pope with you if you like," he offered._

 _"Either way," she shrugged. "I like to catch him off guard when I can, so I don't want to exclude you, but if I'm already in his office, well, if the moment presents itself, I'll just drop the information in his lap," she grinned._

 _"You're sneaky, Sharon," he chuckled._

 _"I like the black shirt on you, nice and casual," she nodded, taking in his appearance. He had on light slacks and a simple black shirt._

 _"Thanks, and just to clarify I have no plans to go home tonight. I thought we'd just go to work straight from here tomorrow morning, that is if you don't mind another night in this room."_

 _"Hmm, well, as long as it's not bugged," she grinned and continued, "I have another suit with me that I can wear to work. I don't need to go home before then, and why give up a perfectly good hotel room," she shrugged, winking at him._

 _He shook his head, chuckling, as he looked to the floor, "I'm good too. I've got one extra dress shirt and tie. Sorry it's not the purple tie, but it's a tie that keeps me here with you tonight."_

 _"That's all that matters. Let's get to dinner," she put her makeup away. "I'm suddenly quite hungry."_

 _"Mmm, I could eat, but after that, Captain, you really need to get to bed. We've got work tomorrow and all," he grinned._

 _"Indeed," she leaned up to kiss him, and the two set out for their dinner._

"Chief, I've got something," Andy snapped out of his memory when his computer beeped at him. His search was done, and it was printing out the results.

"Okay, everyone," Brenda said as she looked over the paperwork Andy had printed. "Lieutenant, I'm going to have you and Julio go pick up our-"

"Brenda," they all heard and turned to see Fritz standing there with Chief Pope. "Sorry to do this, but the FBI has officially taken over the case. We appreciate the work you've done, but now, we've got ties to this going over state lines, and well, it's going to be less of a mess if we handle it. Your team got most of the work done for us."

"Oh, for heaven's sakes," Brenda exclaimed. "You told us we could work together here. My people have been on this all weekend. Without us, you wouldn't have half this information!"

Pope raised one hand, "Chief Johnson, this is out of our hands now. Originally, they were tracking this going all through California, but it looks like some of the reports your team has managed to put together over the last few hours show this being a much bigger ring than we thought.

Brenda looked around the room, "Ahh, everyone, would you give us a minute?" They could tell she was irritated. Once again, the FBI was using her to move their case forward. The team stood, as did Sharon, to go anywhere but here. The tension was high in the room, and when Brenda got irritated, anyone in her line of sight was a target.

"I'm going to get a cup of coffee," Andy explained.

"Flynn, come eat with me. I've been working all morning while you've been leisurely taking your time rolling into work."

"Provenza, I'm not hungry," Andy groaned. "I had breakfast not that long ago."

"Why does that matter? You can watch me eat, but you're coming," Provenza told him.

Andy eyed him, "Let me guess. You're going to let me pay too?"

The rest of the team started to laugh, and Provenza shrugged, "Well, yeah. I wasn't the one enjoying all the room service food over the weekend. I figure you owe me food."

"Enjoying room service!" Andy stammered. "We had to eat in the room, and why do I owe you a meal? Is this some kind of date?"

The group controlled their laughter at the banter between the two. Provenza was leading the group out of the Murder Room, with the rest of the team trailing behind. Sharon had hung back, next to Andy, as everyone retreated from Brenda's wrath. He could smell her perfume, a smell that almost had him groaning out loud. He missed being able to kiss her now that they'd decided to move forward with their relationship.

"Well, I have a mountain of paperwork to do," Sharon told the group. "Gentlemen, as much fun as this has been, I'm going back to my office. Enjoy your breakfast, or non-breakfast, whatever you might eat." She turned to Andy, "Should Chief Johnson need anything from me, please call me."

Andy waved her off, "Will do. Have a good day, and I'll meet you later for dinner at your condo," he said without thinking.

The team all stopped and turned to glare at Andy. Sharon's eyes went wide as she turned too. Andy caught himself, but it was too late. He groaned, and he shook his head, his eye catching Sharon's, begging her to get out while she could.

"I'll umm, get going," she said, moving quickly away from the group. Her heels could be heard as she almost ran to the elevator. Sharon had no problem dealing with Andy's family, but right now, she didn't want to be grilled by his friends.

"Dinner, tonight?" Provenza crossed his arms. "Spill it."


	20. Chapter 20

"Yeah," Andy said without missing a beat. "I was pretty rude to her this weekend. I told her I'd bring her dinner, you know, as a peace offering." Andy was surprisingly calm after his slip of the tongue. He really had not meant to say anything, but he was so excited and so happy. Plus, Sharon had him horribly distracted. He was going to need to get that under control, but for now, he was like a giddy kid on Christmas. He tried to reign it in to deal with the current issue. "Look, Julio was there some. I made fun of her a lot," he nodded. He looked to Julio who did agree.

"That's true. The lieutenant did make fun of her quite a bit and her pajamas," he grinned.

All eyes snapped to Julio, "We're now talking about the captain's pajamas?" Provenza said with an air of disgust. "THAT is not something I want to even remotely think about."

"Sir, all flannel," Julio chuckled. He looked to Andy, "Sorry, I know I shouldn't, but Sir, you agree it was bad."

Andy waved them off, "Exactly, which is why after all this, I felt bad about how I treated her. Look, she's still in charge of IA, but I am trying a peace offering. She complained all weekend about eating room service, saying how she wanted a pizza, so I decided to do something kind in return."

Mike gave a questioning look, "The captain doesn't strike me as the pizza type."

"Yeah," Andy chuckled, "you're telling me. Secret junk food obsession. Sure, she eats all that healthy stuff around here, but apparently, she has a mean pizza obsession that she shares with her son. The things you learn," he shrugged.

"Something stinks about this," Provenza waved his finger at Andy. "Flynn, something is off."

"Come yourself," Andy added. "Guys, I'm taking her a pizza. Look, she had plans for the weekend she had to cancel. She had to get off the phone quickly with her son and her parents over the weekend. All weekend, I had to spend it with her. I got an earful," he sighed. "This is just a peace offering. I'm sure we'll be back to snarling at each other in a few days."

"That is true, about her phone calls," Julio nodded. "I walked in on those."

"I'm still not sure about this, Flynn," Provenza eyed him. "I'm going to be watching you like a hawk."

"Go ahead," Andy shrugged. "Just trying to make peace and wrap up this dumb case. Speaking of," he wanted to desperately change the subject, "what do you think Chief is going to do about this case?"

"Well, she'll fight it as long as she can," Gabriel chuckled. "We all know that, but if Fritz has Chief Pope involved, well, it's probably a lost cause."

"Flynn, I'm wasting away here. Let's go so you can buy me some food. We've been standing here so long, now you owe me breakfast and lunch!"

Andy and Provenza started off for the elevator while the rest of the team disappeared. It was going to be awhile if Brenda was putting up a fight, and even after that, they might be done with this case. The team had plenty of time for a break, and they'd worked through the weekend anyway.

"So," Provenza turned to Andy in the elevator. Andy was standing there, leaning back against the back of the elevator, feet crossed in front of him, trying to play it cool. "I haven't been a detective for more decades than most of the LAPD has been alive to not see through you. You slept with her, didn't you?"

Andy turned, wide-eyed to Provenza, "How do you jump to that?" he barked.

"Easy," Provenza shrugged. "I know you, and I'm a detective. Plus, let's not forget who you always called back in your drinking days. All of those drunken confessions about loving someone named Sharon. At first, I thought you were slurring your words so badly and trying to say Sandra, but then," he shook his head, "Well-I'm no idiot. Back then, I just didn't know that Sharon was still anywhere around. As the years went by, and you and I started working in Major Crimes together, and then Captain Sharon Raydor was around more and more, I just watched. It clicked, but I knew nothing was going on and figured you'd spill the sad history to me when you were ready. I just thought the two of you hating each other here at work was the result of decades of irritation between you two, a romance gone bad. Obviously, something changed. I see it in you; I see it in her."

Andy sighed, as he ran his hand through his hair. He glanced to Provenza, "I don't know whether to say you're a very good friend, detective, or the worst human being ever. Can we at least sit down for a cup of coffee before we discuss this anymore? Please?"

Provenza just nodded, and the two continued in silence as they walked to the diner and were seated.

"I'll have the double cheeseburger with extra bacon, fries, and three pickles," Provenza told the waitress. "He'll have a garden salad, house dressing on the side," he explained.

"I just ate, Provenza," Andy complained after the waitress had left. "I had breakfast when I left the hotel!"

"Ahh, here come the details. So, stayed at the hotel until this morning. I'm also guessing the reason the chief couldn't locate our undercover captain this morning, even though she did mention seeing her car in the parking garage, is that she was with you at said hotel. Let me guess, her car was here from the weekend, and you two had a little fun after the case ended, finally showing up here this morning? Do I get an A for effort at that stab in the dark?"

"I loathe you, Provenza," Andy sighed.

"Well," Provenza continued to pretend he was studying the menu even though he'd already ordered, "hopefully not the same way you have told me over the years you loathe a certain captain. Okay, I've waited. What's the real story, and don't feed me some line about her liking pizza. Amateurs believe that," he complained.

Andy closed his eyes and sighed, "Okay, so here's the deal. We met when I was still in the police academy."

"Where was she? She wasn't in your graduating class, was she?" he asked.

"No," Andy shook his head. "She was a freshman in college. I met her at the grocery store of all places," he let out a small chuckle. "We dated for three years, all of her freshman, sophomore, and junior year of college."

"Serious, then, you-" Provenza said surprised as he cut himself off. "Honestly, Flynn, I figured you'd had a fling with her at some point, and that was that."

"No," Andy shook his head. "She's not like that. She's so much better than that."

Provenza huffed, "Well, she was married to that scumbag Jack Raydor. I don't know if I'd say that, Flynn."

Andy eyed him, shaking his head, "Listen, if you want the story, shut your trap." Provenza waved him off, nodding, and Andy continued. "I proposed to her at the end of her junior year. She was planning to go to law school, and I wanted to let her know I was all hers, wherever she went to school. I thought things were good, great even, and I was completely in love with her, but she said no."

Provenza's eyes grew huge, "She said no? Okay, with everything I thought that could have happened, I never thought it was this. I never knew you wanted to marry her."

"Yeah," Andy sighed, "with all my heart. What's worse is that sort of started a downward spiral of problems. She took off for a few weeks, and then she finally decided she'd made a mistake. She up and decided to come talk to me. I only found out that this weekend, and the exact dumb morning she decided to come by my place, she saw Sandra leaving it!"

"Flynn! You are an idiot! No wonder she dumped your sorry self," Provenza hissed.

"Hey! I wasn't like that either, not then. No, Sandra was my neighbor. I think I told you we met in our apartment building. She had stopped by for school stuff-I was speaking at her career day thing, and Sharon saw that and got the wrong idea. Now, instead of talking to me, she took off, and no kidding, she ran into Jack that day. Dirt bag also lived in my building; he was moving in that morning. She then rebounded with him, throwing herself into that relationship, and less than a year later, she was married to him," he sighed, disgusted. "It's a mess. I didn't know most of that. I took longer to get together with Sandra; Sandra and I became friends first before we started dating, but then when I ran into Sharon in her academy class and saw she was married, well, I lost any hope, and I married Sandra. As you know, Nicole came along right after that," he offered a small smile.

"So, catch me up-how does she go from applying to law school when she is dating you to showing up at the academy married to Jack Raydor? She's smart; I know that much, so she didn't get into law school?" Provenza asked.

Andy sat back, crossing his arms, "Oh, she got in," he shook his head. "She got into several places. That dirt bag Jack convinced her to let him finish school first while she worked so they would have less debt. The deal was he'd then work while she went through school. As you can see, Jack is really good at keeping his promises. He up and left her when he finished school with two kids, plenty of debt, and a future without law school."

Provenza frowned, but they were interrupted when the food arrived. Both started to eat, Andy stabbing at his salad to take out some of his irritation. Provenza watched him for a moment before he started eating his fries. "So?"

Andy looked up, "We've pretty much despised each other since, but so much of our heartache was a result of miscommunication from the start. Yes, she freaked out and ran, but she came back. I never knew it because she saw Sandra, and so on and so on. Ultimately, I never got over her, and that is partly why I started drinking. I should have gone after Sharon, fought for her. I knew I'd messed up marrying Sandra, and I just couldn't deal with it in the right manner. So, yeah, if you heard me grumbling about Sharon back in the day, that's why."

"This weekend, then, you two were forced into closed quarters," Provenza stated.

'Yeah," Andy nodded, now a small grin forming. "We talked a lot. We finally cleared the air. I can't even describe it, Provenza. I still love her, more than I could ever imagine. She still loves me too."

"Where's the trash can? I think I'm going to be sick," Provenza made a gagging sound. "You two? Really? Worst case ever," he grumbled.

Andy shrugged, "Yeah, well now you know how I feel at every wedding of yours I attend."

"So, you two rekindled the flame?" Provenza smirked.

"Sort of," Andy replied. "Listen, even that, I'm not going to discuss. We did decide we are moving forward-TOGETHER. She's going to be around. Yes, I want to keep things quiet at work for now, but simply so we can get our footing. We know each other of 30 years ago, and we need to fast forward to now. She already met the kids. I need to meet hers, and we still have a lot more talking to do, but we are committed to this, to each other. No more messing around or wasting time."

"Oh," Provenza looked up, the weekend details catching up to him. "You had her meet your ex? Are you nuts? You never do that! Take it from the expert!"

"Well, I couldn't exactly hide her, not after Sandra basically called her a high-priced call girl with the kids there. I took her over, introduced her, and we sat and talked to everyone for a few minutes. She even fired back some very appropriate remarks to Nathan. It was classic," he chuckled.

"I really cannot believe that I have to get used to the idea of the two of you together in any way at all," Provenza grimaced.

"Well, get used to it," Andy told him. "In fact, you're coming to dinner tonight," he grinned. "Sharon needs to understand you and I are a package deal, and I really want you to spend some time with her outside of work."

"No way, no how, Flynn," Provenza shook his head.

"Oh, it's happening," Andy nodded. "The only reason I'm willing to share my time with her tonight, to let you tag along, is that I already spent all day and all night with her yesterday as you so pointed out already," he flashed Provenza a smile. "Let that sink as you try not to choke on your food."


	21. Chapter 21

"I can't believe I'm having dinner with you and her," Provenza grumbled as they were on the elevator heading toward Sharon's condo. They'd come armed with dinner and flowers, Provenza suggesting the bouquet at the store that was almost dead.

 _"Get her these ones, Flynn," Provenza pointed to the wilted flowers."_

 _"No, those look terrible! They're almost dead. She'd think I'm some idiot," he complained._

 _"Exactly my point, Flynn," Provenza had told him._

Now, here they were at Sharon's condo. Andy had never been here; he knew where she lived, but he'd never been to her place. He'd always kept an eye on her to make sure she was safe, even during all the years he wanted to hate her. He knew she'd sold the family home a few years ago, and when she moved, he made sure it was to a safe neighborhood. Other than that, he'd not been to her place. He was about to knock on the door when Provenza started complaining behind him.

"You don't have a key or something?" Provenza grumbled.

"Why would I?" Andy complained.

"Well, this thing of yours-30 years in the making, and I'm surprised she didn't already give you a key."

Andy turned to him, frowning. "Look, whatever you think has been going on, I was serious when I said that we started talking again this weekend. Don't make assumptions."

"Who is making assumptions? You've been the playboy of the LAPD for years, and only until recently, did that appear to stop, but maybe it was just a little more hush hush than I realized."

"Look, yeah, I dated around a lot for years, but really, until you said, it I didn't realize that I stopped seeing women when Sharon started hanging around Major Crimes more. Nothing was gone on. I promise. Get your mind out of the gutter. People can build on love; it doesn't always have to be lust. Trust me, I had three years of building on love 30 years ago," he said, realizing again, he'd said too much. He closed his eyes.

"You mean to tell me that you two never-you never, wait, that all those years ago, you never slept with her then? Just now?" he said bug-eyed.

Andy groaned as he sighed, shaking his head, "I really need to just keep my mouth shut. Sharon's a devout Catholic, well as much as can be when now divorced, but that meant a lot to her, and I respected that. Drop it. It's not your business," he snapped, pointing his finger at Provenza. "Don't mention that to her. It's personal, and I'm irritated with myself that you bring out the worst in me. I just keep talking around you."

"I thought I heard voices," Sharon said as she opened the door. She instantly realized she'd opened the door to some sort of disagreement. Andy had his finger in Provenza's face, obviously irritated by him. Instantly, upon hearing Sharon's voice, his demeanor changed. He dropped his hand, relaxed, and he turned to her.

"Hi Sweetheart," he flashed a smiled, Provenza's groan heard to both. Sharon's smile brightened, and she opened the door to the men.

"Lieutenant, nice of you to join us for dinner. Andy told me he'd invited you," she gestured for them to enter. Andy went first, stopping to kiss Sharon. He lingered there for a few moments, Provenza making gagging noises behind them. Andy broke from his kiss to Sharon, Sharon's hand still on his forearm, and he turned to Provenza.

"Do you mind?" he scowled.

"Yes, I do," he nodded, gesturing for Andy to move inside. "Get a move on it, Flynn. Dinner is getting cold. I'm going to complain if the food is cold."

"You're going to complain anyway," Andy said, now irritated.

Andy moved into the condo, handing Sharon the flowers, and as Provenza started to move past Sharon, he stopped and put up his hand, pointing at Sharon, "Captain, if you even think I'll greet you in the same manner, well, then go ahead and get the paperwork ready. I'll file my own harassment claim."

Sharon covered her mouth, as she was both embarrassed and laughing, "Glad you could make it, Lieutenant." She turned to Andy, "Thank you for the flowers. You remembered my favorites."

"Of course, I did. Provenza wanted me to get you the dead ones," he rolled his eyes. Sharon shut the door behind them as they all moved into the condo, chuckling at the notion of Provenza suggesting dead flowers.

"Well, I wasn't given much choice about coming tonight. This love-struck idiot made me come with him, and might I say, Captain, that while I had my suspicions about you two, those suspicions did not take me back 30 years."

Sharon nodded, clasping her hands in front of her, "Well, hopefully, you'll enjoy the evening. I dug out all my old photo albums," she smiled to Andy. "I still had things from long ago packed away. I hadn't looked at them in ages, but I have several photo albums full of pictures of us. There's at least one per year of college. I thought we'd enjoy looking at them."

"Well, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Provenza gestured. He pushed through the condo, past Andy, and he flopped in the middle of Sharon's couch. "An evening to make fun of younger versions of the two of you-count me in!"

"Ahh, dinner," Andy nodded to Sharon, where the two were still standing by the door. She smiled at him, putting her arm on his, to show him around.

"Well, leaving your grumpy partner there for a few minutes, let's get this ready," she gestured to follow her. "This is the kitchen, obviously."

"Stay away Provenza, unless you want to be gagging again," Andy said as he pulled her in for another kiss. She laughed into it, kissing him back excitedly.

"Hi," she grinned. "Let me show you the rest of the condo. Obviously, that's the living room, and there's a balcony out there with an amazing view." Andy continued to follow Sharon, as she had his hand in hers to tour the condo. "This is my bedroom," she stopped at the doorway to let him peak in.

"Captain, just stop talking," Provenza yelled from the living room. "I think I'm going to be sick…words like bedroom and all. Where is the bathroom?" he called down the hall to her.

Sharon rolled her eyes, leading Andy again, and this time loudly said, "Here's the bathroom. Lieutenant, next to my bedroom," she called to Provenza. "Should you find yourself getting sick this evening, please try to make it all the way to the bathroom. Note, there are two doors to the bathroom, the hall and one to my bedroom."

"Ugh, there it is again, the image of the captain's bedroom," he shuddered. "Better just close your bedroom door, Captain," he nodded. Andy chuckled, turning to the last room.

"Guest room?" he asked, and Sharon nodded. "Yes, even if both kids are home, this is plenty. I bought the condo for the view anyway."

"It's very you, the condo. I like it," he put his arm around her waist, as they squeezed back down the hall side by side. Dinner is getting cold," Andy smiled. "Let's eat, and maybe you can show me the view?"

"Right, dinner," Sharon nodded to herself. "I'm sorry. I didn't even notice. What did you bring?" she asked as she and Andy rejoined Provenza in the living room.

"Pizza," Provenza stood and walked to the kitchen, "and, I'm hungry. Stop ogling Flynn and let's eat."

"I'm not ogling her!" Andy snarled, but Sharon put her hand on his arm and shook her head. She started to chuckle, seeing how each man could completely irritate the other.

"Pizza," Sharon nodded, "interesting choice for dinner."

"Oh, Flynn's big mouth when he said to the team he'd see you for dinner," Provenza grinned, "he had to talk himself out of it. It was this whole saga that involved pizza. Have to hand it to him that he can make up things on the spot. So, pizza has been on my mind, and I said if I had to come along tonight, the least Flynn could do was buy me pizza."

"Yeah, somehow a nice evening with Sharon turned into a pizza party with Provenza," Andy grumbled. He looked to Provenza, "It's amazing you are still walking. All those ex-wives, and then, don't get me started on your diet. You had a greasy burger for lunch, with extra bacon, I might add, as well as all those fries. Then, you demanded pizza for dinner. You eat like an eight-year-old at a carnival."

"Just know it's not a slumber party tonight, not for any of us, Flynn. You're taking me home," he replied, opening the box hoping to snag some pizza.

"Joke is on you, Provenza," Andy smirked. "You told me to get pizza. I did, but it's all vegetable. No meats for you."

"Flynn, that's not even a real pizza!" Provenza exclaimed. "Tell me Captain, any alcohol in this place?" he asked.

"I just might," she smiled. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a six-pack of bottled beer.

"That's my favorite kind!" Provenza exclaimed.

"What a coincidence," Andy rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Sharon. She just covered her mouth from a slight chuckle.

"Help yourself, then," Sharon nodded. "We can eat here or on the balcony. It's a nice evening." Sharon grabbed a glass of water for herself and for Andy, and then she followed the men. The three nodded and decided to eat on the balcony. Andy and Sharon sat at the table, while Provenza paced with his pizza, checking out the view.

"I do have to hand it to you, Captain. Great view," he nodded.

"You may call me Sharon," she turned to him. "Really, I think we'll be seeing more and more of each other. Sharon is fine."

"I'm not the one dating you! I have no intention of spending time with you," he grimaced.

"Oh, shut your trap, Provenza! What are you going to do if you stop by for a game, and she's at the house, huh? She's going to be around," Andy sighed.

"Well, I don't think I can repeat your name, Captain. It causes me acid reflux to say it. It was the name of one of my ex-wives."

"Ahh," Sharon nodded. "Now see, we do have something in common! We despise our ex's."

Provenza stopped and turned to her, "Captain, I really should ask what you were thinking with Jack Raydor? Come on-that guy? Other defense attorneys don't even like him!"

The three started laughing at that. Sharon just shrugged, and when they finally calmed down, she spoke to the two men as she looked to Andy, "I used a lot of poor judgement back then. I realize that. My life isn't over, and I'm hoping to redeem things a bit now."

"Well, knowing what a pig he is, Captain, I'm surprised you didn't throw everything he owns off this balcony."

Sharon pursed her lips and winked to Andy, "Well, lieutenant, I bought this place after I was divorced, not that he was ever around when we were married. You will be glad to know that after he left me the second time, after cleaning out our bank accounts of course, I did have the church come to collect all his favorite things-chair, desk, clothing. Anything that he'd left behind in the house, I donated to the church. It was the best feeling."

"Okay," Provenza nodded, taking another bite of pizza, "now, that's a captain I can get on board with. I like your thinking," he nodded.

"So, what's the latest on the case?" Sharon asked. Both Andy and Provenza groaned, shaking their head. "I take it Chief Johnson was a little irritated this afternoon?"

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "Fritz collected everything. Looks like the case is out of our hands. Chief was still going rounds with him about it. Wouldn't want to be at their house tonight. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow, but we might not be working that case anymore."

"Hmm, too bad," Sharon shook her head. "It's amazing that it was dropped in our lap, and now, it's gone. Fate."

"What's that, Captain?" Provenza looked to her.

"Sometimes, things are just meant to happen," she smiled at Andy, taking his hand. It was quite for a few moments as the three thought about things. "Can I get either of you some dessert?" Sharon asked once they had finished the pizza. She continued, looking at Andy, "I might have thrown together an apple pie."

"Your homemade apple pie?" he perked up.

Sharon chuckled, as she stood to collect the plates. She patted his arm and then leaned down to kiss him, "Yes, the very same. I stopped by the store on the way home to get apples. It didn't take me very long, and quite honestly, I can't remember the last time I made it. You will have to battle Ricky for pie. It's his favorite too."

"Mmmm," Andy said, after he kissed Sharon. "See, Ricky and I already have so much in common." He looked to Provenza, "She makes the best apple pie."

"Well, now I need to be the judge of that," Provenza waved. "Let's see if it's any good, Captain." Sharon nodded and disappeared, leaving the two men on the balcony.

"Flynn, I'm still trying to picture you with her. She's not your type," Provenza told him.

"She's exactly my type, Provenza," Andy jumped in. "I tried dating everything she wasn't to not think of her. I love her, always have."

"Don't you think you are a little quick on the love her stuff?" Provenza asked.

"30 years too late if you ask me. Look, I loved her then, and I should have fought for her, at least gone after her. I messed up. She messed up. It sickens me to think of what we could have had-kids together, good life. It's time to stop messing around, stop fighting, and move forward."

"You're in deep," Provenza nodded.

"As long as she's with me, there's no place I'd rather be," he shrugged. He stood and walked to the balcony edge, resting his arms on it, looking over the city. "I started drinking because I couldn't get over her and realized I wasn't in love with Sandra for the right reasons. I hate myself for that."

Provenza stood, walking to him, "You can't change the past."

"I know," Andy frowned. "Still, wish I would have been here. I'd have given her a house filled with kids," he offered a small smile.

"You both have kids, though. It's not like either of you were deprived that," he said.

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "That's true, but I know she's a great mom. She wanted three or four kids. She had two because that dirt bag Jack left her. Plus, I still try to imagine what our kids would have been like."

"I shudder at the thought, Provenza rolled his eyes.

"Andy, would you give me a hand?" they both heard, and Andy nodded, going to help Sharon with the plates.

"Sorry about tonight," he smiled to her when he met her in the kitchen. He pulled her to the corner, out of eyesight of Provenza and kissed her again. She smiled into the kiss, pulling him as close to her as she could.

"Well, it was bound to happen. Let's just not make it a habit. Provenza for dinner?" she wrinkled her nose. He chuckled.

"Thanks for making pie. I can't believe you remembered it's my favorite," he smiled, taking two of the plates.

"Andy, there's very little I've forgotten about you. I replay our years together so much. Let's finish our pie and dig out the pictures so we can freak out Provenza," she winked.

"Anything to irritate the life out of Provenza and hopefully, even get rid of him," Andy sighed, as the two walked toward the balcony.


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay, so I have this chapter and then just one more to go to finish this story. Thanks to all who have read it and enjoyed it. It's been a fun one to write.**

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"You just left here about an hour ago," she smiled into the phone when she saw the caller id.

"I wanted to talk to you," he explained.

"I thought that's what we did the past few hours. Make a note that Provenza and I were in the same space for over three hours, and he survived," she grinned.

"Oh, he complained about it the whole way home, but no, I realize I was just there, but I didn't get to talk to you, just you," he stated.

"You're the one who invited Provenza," she pointed out.

"Sorry," he grumbled.

Sharon let out a slight laugh, "Andy, it's perfectly okay. He's always welcome here, as odd as it might be for me to say that. I am glad you wanted to deal with him right now. The last thing I want to do is come between you and your best friend. I thought that all things considered, it went well."

"It did go well, but you having his favorite beer and then that amazing apple pie, well that all helped," he complimented her.

"Mmm, please tell me you aren't going to finish that pie tonight?" she questioned.

"Nah," he told her. "I'm taking the rest to work where Provenza will go nuts because he'll want some, but he won't be able to say a word about where I got it."

Sharon let out a full-blown laugh, as she shifted. Andy heard her yawn too, "Oh, crap, I didn't wake you, did I?"

"Not at all," she told him. "I'm just reading in bed. I'm ready for bed, but I had this feeling I might get a late-night phone call."

Andy groaned, "Ugh, just stop. I wish I was there. Now, I'm mad I brought Provenza because if I hadn't, I could be right there."

"No, you couldn't," she smiled. "You don't have any of your clothes with you."

"And?" he teased. Sharon laughed again. "No, you're right. I needed to come home. I haven't been home since the undercover thing, and well, it is good to be home, but I miss you."

"Hmmm," she hummed. "I miss you too. Funny how things have changed in just a matter of days."

"Which is part of my call," he told her. "I wanted to ask you on a date."

"A date?" she chuckled. "I'll have to see if I'm available," she teased.

"Well, I certainly hope you are. I kind of thought after everything at the hotel, we were sort of seeing each other," he said.

Sharon laughed, "Oh, is that what they call it? Andy, I'm only teasing. Yes, I'd love to go on a date, but let me just put your mind at ease. I don't think I want to go on any dates with anyone but you, from now on."

"I like hearing that. So, maybe the movies this week?" he asked.

"The movies would be great," she smiled.

"What are you reading? You said you were in bed," he asked her.

"Well, nothing really. I tried to read this dumb book Emily left here months ago, but I can't get into it. Honestly, I was looking back through these photo albums," she explained.

"I can't believe you had all of those. Provenza almost died seeing the younger versions of us together. Now, that made the evening," he chuckled.

 _"Captain, that's you?" Provenza exclaimed looking at the younger version of Sharon. She looked over his shoulder nodding._

 _"Yes, of course that's me," she rolled her eyes. "That's Andy obviously too," she pointed to Andy standing next to her, his arm around her. They were at Andy's academy graduation. Andy was in his crisp looking uniform, a very young, dark haired Andy, and Sharon was standing next to him in a knee length print dress._

 _"I just can't believe your hair was that long," he pointed. Sharon's hair was indeed long, well past her waist, and in the picture, she had some of it pulled back. It was clear looking at the picture just how happy they were. Andy was grinning and seemed to be holding Sharon as tightly as possible. She was similar, huge smile and looking up at Andy's face, clearly smitten with him._

 _"Wow, I can't believe you have my academy pictures still," he chuckled. Sharon and Andy were sitting on the couch, even though Provenza had made himself at home there. Andy had argued with Provenza to move, and now he was in one of Sharon's orange chairs while the two were sitting side by side on the couch._

 _"Well, it was a big day!" she exclaimed. "I was so proud of you, and I even skipped my psychology class."_

 _"You skipped class?" Provenza tried to look shocked. Andy chuckled, as he put his arm around Sharon and kissed the side of her head._

 _"She wasn't one to miss, Provenza. Some people actually enjoy learning in college," Andy grumbled._

 _"Let's point out that I'm the one sitting here at the police captain, while the two of you, both older," she gave them a glance, "are lieutenants. So, yes, following the rules can pay off."_

 _"Where were these pictures taken?" Provenza asked pointing to a few pages of new photos. Sharon glanced over, looked back to Andy, and she smiled, "Connecticut. They were taken at my parents' house."_

 _"Flynn! You met her parents? You really were in deep," Provenza exclaimed._

 _"Of course, I met her parents," he rolled his eyes. "We dated for three years, and you don't think in all that time, they would want to know this older guy, a police officer nonetheless, who was consuming their daughter's time?"_

 _"And her heart," Sharon smiled at Andy, patting his hand. She turned back to Provenza, "Andy came home with me, what," she turned to Andy, "three visits, right?"_

 _He thought a moment, "Yeah, three trips. I came for Christmas twice and that one visit in the summer. That's one of the Christmas trips since there's snow," he pointed to Provenza._

 _"So, Captain, your parents, still alive, right? I know you were planning to visit them last year. What are they going to think of Flynn back in the picture?" Provenza asked._

 _Sharon flashed a smile at Provenza, but she turned to Andy, taking his hand in hers, "I think for the first time in a very long time, they feel like they can breathe."_

 _"Not following," Provenza frowned._

 _Sharon continued, "My parents have always loved me, but I'm very well aware they thought I messed up my life when I walked away from Andy. They never liked Jack, which should have been a red flag to me. Instead, I was stubborn and drew a wedge with them. When Jack walked out, I couldn't endure the kind of 'told you so' comments. They never did that, but I knew they hated seeing my life fall apart. They always worried about me, raising the kids alone. They love their grandkids too, but the life I've had is not what they envisioned for me, and I'm not even talking about my job. My mom called during the undercover op, and it came out that I was there with Andy. My mom was thrilled, so yes, for the first time in decades, I think they can breathe."_

 _Andy rubbed Sharon's arm, as he offered a small smile to her. Provenza just nodded. "I'm going to use the restroom," Andy stood and left the room. Provenza turned to Sharon._

 _"If you even think about dragging him through some high school romance again to just kick him to the curb, don't even start. I don't care if you outrank me. I'll hunt you down. That man might irritate me to no end, but he's my best friend. I've listened to him over the years, not until more recently putting together the Sharon he still loved was you. You will physically kill him if you hurt him. He can't take it. He'll either go back to the bottle, or his heart will give out. Captain, I'm warning you," Provenza pointed at her, "DO NOT mess this up."_

 _Sharon nodded, turning to him and clearing her throat, "Lieutenant," she said honestly, "I realize I am responsible for so much heartache. I've tried to put it behind me. He has too. I think we finally realized we are better together. I know we are, but as you know, we are both very stubborn, and it's taken this long to talk. We will not mess this up; you have my word."_

You do realize your partner pretty much promised to take me out and hide the body if I mess this up," Sharon chuckled as she recounted Provenza's threat. "He's a good friend, Andy. As much as we try to irritate each other, Provenza and I, we both care about you. He and I will be just fine and will find out footing. We'll maybe have a teased distaste for each other."

"Great," Andy chuckled. "I get to spend the next few decades watching you two snip at each other."

"I do hope so, Andy," Sharon sighed. "That sounds like music to my ears."

"Mine too," he replied, honestly. "I'm sorry the chief lost her case today to the FBI, but it turned out to be very eye-opening for us."

"It did," Sharon yawned again. "Sorry, I haven't had much sleep over the last couple days."

He laughed too, "Well, apologizing to the guy who prevented that sleep isn't necessary. Get some rest, and we'll continue to figure this out. Sharon, you're too important to let go."


	23. Chapter 23

**We've reached the end. Thank you for reading this story! I hope to start a new one soon.**

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Christmas. It was almost Christmas, and things had been going well for Andy and Sharon. Their pathway back to a solid relationship was on track. Sure, they'd had their disagreements, butted heads on a few occasions, but they considered that healthy progress. They were spending most of their time together outside of work, and that was now making it awkward at work. They still hadn't told the team about their relationship. Of course, Provenza knew, and Pope had been informed. Sharon got an earful from him about dating such "an idiot like Flynn," but she'd just shrugged it off, her personal feelings for her "Idiot of a Boss Pope," kept to herself. While they were seeing a lot of each other outside of work, Sharon and Andy were finding themselves spending a great deal of time together during work as well. Cases were putting Sharon in the Major Crimes office more and more. That is how, a week before Christmas, she found herself in the middle of a discussion.

"We need to draw names for the Secret Santa," Buzz whined. "It's not Christmas here if we don't have a Secret Santa."

"Buzz! Fine, for everyone's sanity, please go ahead. Do your drawing, and let's get this over. I don't want to participate," Provenza grumbled.

"Sir, you have to participate. The whole office is," Julio said turning toward Sharon who was perched over a desk signing paperwork. "I guess the captain should be in our Secret Santa too."

"What, what?" Sharon said, hearing her name, but not paying attention to the topic at hand.

"You're being included in the office Secret Santa, Captain," Andy filled her in. He smirked, "I'm not sure to bet on you giving someone a lump of coal or someone giving it to you."

Sharon rolled her eyes at Andy and turned back to the group, "I don't need to be included in your office party. I'm just here now working. Just ignore me like you usually do and do your Secret Santa thing."

"Julio's right," Gabriel jumped in, "Captain, you should be included."

"That's the spirt!" Buzz smiled, as he wrote out everyone's names. The group grumbled as he came around, and everyone drew a name out of the bowl. "Now, did anyone draw their own name?"

"That's an option?" Provenza perked up. "Well, I'd like to do that. I'll be happy to buy myself a gift. I'll by myself a great big steak dinner at the buffet down the street, Early Bird Special so as to not pay too much."

"Lieutenant, that's not spreading Christmas cheer," Buzz pouted. "Now, everyone, we are doing nice gifts. Yes, they can be funny, but nice gifts in the $30 range, as we've done before. Everyone okay with that?"

"Can we get gift ideas from others?" Julio asked.

"No," Buzz shook his head. "No sharing. That's part of the Secret Santa. Only you know the person for whom you are buying. Don't share, and we'll do the gifts next week."

Groans were heard throughout the room as everyone agreed to Buzz's set rules for the game.

"But, the gift is for that person, correct? It's not a trade around game, is it?" Julio asked.

"No," Buzz spoke up again, "Secret Santa is for that person. You're thinking of White Elephant, which that would be a lot of fun too!"

"Buzz!" Andy exclaimed, shaking his head. "Just stop. We're not doing two gift exchanges. You got us with this Secret Santa thing, and that's enough. Wait, you didn't include Chief."

Buzz frowned, "No, I didn't. She's out of town now, visiting her parents, and she'll still be out of town when we have the party. We just need to figure out when to setup the party here."

"You mean to tell me we can't even have a beer at this Christmas party? It's going to be here, at work? Well, if you aren't Scrooge," Provenza grumbled.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, but with Chief Johnson and Agent Howard away for the holidays, she can't host the party at her house as she's done before, so we'll have to have the party here. I'm just glad that I'm setting this up. You people have no Christmas spirit!" Buzz exclaimed.

"Buzz," Andy held up his hand, glancing to Provenza, "in the spirit of Christmas," he smirked as he caught Sharon's eye and tried not to smile at her too, "we can have the party at my house. I can't stand hearing Provenza complain during the whole thing about not having something to drink. So, if you want to have the party at my place, we could do it Saturday evening. We aren't on call, and in fact, since we finish call Friday, that should be a good time to do it."

"Well, that would be a Christmas miracle, Lieutenant!" Buzz exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. The rest of the team started to chuckle at his excitement. "Everyone?"

"I can make it," Gabriel nodded. "Thanks, Lieutenant."

"I'll bring Provenza's beer," Julio grinned. "Sir," he turned to Provenza, "consider it your Christmas present, even though I'm not your Secret Santa."

"Hey! You aren't supposed to tell that," Buzz exclaimed, frowning at Julio's information. "What about the rest of you? Can you come to Lieutenant Flynn's house for the party? Lieutenant Tao?"

"Ahh, just checking with my wife. She has plans already set with her best friend that night to see a play, but yeah, I can come," he nodded.

"Well, if there's beer and food-Flynn, none of that healthy stuff," Provenza grumbled, "I'll be there. I'd most likely be on Flynn's couch anyway watching sports on tv, so that's fine with me. Just have real food, good food," he grumbled.

"Excellent!" Buzz said excitedly. "Captain?"

"Oh," Sharon looked up again from her paperwork, a bit startled. "You don't have to include me in your office Christmas party, really."

"Captain, I believe you already drew a Secret Santa," Andy smirked. "You can't resist a good party. We know how you are about Christmas."

"Fine," she offered a small smile to the group. "I'll be there. I'm sure I'll figure out some food to bring," she nodded to Andy. He noted the team had turned back to Buzz, so he winked and smiled at her. She shook her head and went back to her paperwork.

The party wasn't mentioned anymore that day, but by the end of the week, the team was starting to get excited at the idea of a Christmas party at Andy's house.

"Hey," Andy knocked on Sharon's office door which was open. The rest of her division had gone home for the day. It was now almost 7:00 on Friday evening. "Just came off call," he smiled. "No dead bodies ruined the evening. You about ready to go? I've got all that shopping to do for the party."

Sharon smiled up at him, "Yes," she shuffled some papers, while Andy walked in and sat in one of the chairs. "I'm ready to go, but you don't have much shopping to do."

He raised an eyebrow, 'Umm, in case you have forgotten, the whole team is coming for the party tomorrow."

"I know," she smiled as she stood. "I shopped for the food last night. It's all at the condo, and I'll bring it over tomorrow. You were working, and I wasn't, so it's done," she offered a small shrug. "No big deal."

He grinned at her, "You really are amazing, you know that? Sharon, you didn't have to do all the shopping. Here," he shifted and pulled out his wallet, "how much for the food?"

Sharon rolled her eyes, "Andy, put that away. It's fine," she waved off. "I bought the food. It's not a big deal, and I'm not taking your money."

He sighed, "Fine, I'll just put it toward your Christmas presents. More money for me to spend on gifts."

She stopped and turned, "You'll do no such thing! I don't expect you to shower me with Christmas gifts, Andy. Honestly, I'm just excited we get to spend our first Christmas together in decades."

"Well," his eyes followed her around her office as she got ready to leave, "I'm just sorry we can't be in New York on Christmas. I know you would love to see Emily, but with work then for both of us, I'm sorry we can't go. I'm excited we get to go after New Year, and I'm definitely putting the money I would have spent on this food toward the trip."

Sharon rolled her eyes and shook her head, "It's not necessary."

"It is," he winked. "If you don't want me to spend the money on you, I'll spend it on your parents. You know they were thrilled when they heard we were coming to visit them after the holidays while we're in New York."

She nodded, "Yes, it will be a nice trip, which is why we really need to tell your team now, tomorrow, that we're dating. It's going to be very awkward if they figure out we are both on vacation, and we haven't told them about us. Andy, it's been over six months. It's time."

He nodded, "Yeah, I know. We can tell them tomorrow. I'm just not sure how."

She shrugged, "We'll figure it out. Now, let's get out of here. Coming to the condo?"

He nodded, "Of course," he smiled, "you promised dinner."

She rolled her eyes again, "Yes, I did. Leftovers okay? I made a huge salad yesterday, and I have that with some fruit. I figure we'll be eating a lot of party foods tomorrow, so something healthy tonight sounded good."

"Perfect," Andy nodded, as he stood. He really wanted to kiss her, but they'd been good about not doing that in the office, even if it was empty. Instead, he squeezed her hand, something she had agreed was okay if others weren't milling around.

"My house is pretty clean too. I cleaned it two days ago when I was between cases. I'll do a final tidy tomorrow morning, but that should about do it. What do we need to do tonight?"

"I figured we could spice things up," she flirted with him. Andy's grin grew, and he tilted his head, shaking it at her.

"Captain, didn't know you had it in you," he winked.

"Oh, well, you know," she shrugged, "I know I'm not the best cook, but we should be able to follow a few recipes."

Andy hung his head, shaking it. He started to chuckle, and he met her gaze. Her eyes were sparkling, "You are talking about cooking, aren't you?"

"Of course," she shrugged, flirting again. "Spice up the food-is that okay? I figure you can help me. You volunteered to host this party, and as your mystery girlfriend, I am expected to help. So, we're spending the evening cooking." She opened her office door and started out, turning to find a chuckling Andy still there, smiling. "You coming? The sooner we cook, well, the sooner-" she let it hang for Andy to finish.

"The sooner we can do the dishes," he winked as he clasped her hand in his as they left the office.

By the next afternoon, Sharon and Andy had relocated from the condo to Andy's house. They had discussed ways to tell the team, but they hadn't come up with a solid plan. They had decided to let things go, and they'd tell them sometime during the party.

"Do you need me to wrap your Secret Santa gift?" Sharon asked, as she finished up taping her gift.

"You don't mind?" he asked. "I drew Mike for this. I had no idea what to get him. I asked Gabriel for an idea, and he sent me to that store, Brookstone. I found some tech device thing I think Mike will love."

"It's no trouble," Sharon smiled, extending her hand. "Here, I'll wrap it now."

"Who did you end up drawing?" he asked.

"It's a secret," she teased.

"Oh, come on. Really, Sharon?" he rolled his eyes.

She laughed, "No, I'm just teasing. I drew Buzz. Of all of you, probably best I drew his name. Provenza would have gotten him a lump of coal," she laughed.

"Well, what did you get him?" he asked, now walking over to the table. He had been straightening up the living room, and she had just started working on wrapping the gift Andy had bought.

"I got him two things," she nodded to her gift. "Don't worry," she smiled. "It stayed within the budget he suggested. I know how much he obsesses over and adores his car, so I wanted to get him something for that. I got him a car cleaning and detail kit. You and I both know he's in love with his Prius."

Andy chuckled, nodding, "Yeah, don't remind me. After that time Provenza and I were involved in that case with the dead body falling on Buzz's car, he's reminded us over and over just how much he loves his car. I'm sure he'll love that."

Sharon hummed, nodding, "Yes, well, I know he's mentioned how he enjoys washing it, so I thought he'd enjoy this. I asked about the best one to get him. The other thing is another new ugly Christmas sweater. You know he loves them," she smiled. Andy chuckled again, nodding. "That should be a big hit."

"I'm here! Where's the beer?" they heard Provenza yell out as he walked through the front door. Sharon finished wrapping the gift as Andy went over to greet Provenza.

"Oh, you made it. My Christmas wish didn't come true," he grumbled.

"Beer?" Provenza asked again, this time a bit impatient.

Andy rolled his eyes, "Not here yet. Like I'm going to have beer just sitting in the house. There's wine for Sharon, if you want that, but no beer."

"I'll wait for beer," he mumbled, shoving a present at Andy. "Here."

"What's this? Something for me?" Andy asked, a surprised look on his face.

"No, you idiot," he rolled his eyes. "Is that your name there?" he pointed to the gift tag where it said, 'Julio' on it. Maybe I should have gotten you some glasses."

"He already has glasses," Sharon added to the conversation as she started putting the food out for everyone. "Nice to see you, Lieutenant," she smiled at him.

"Sharon!" Andy exclaimed, irritated his secret about his glasses had gotten out. "I don't need him knowing about my glasses!"

Sharon shrugged, "Glasses aren't that bad, Andy," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe not on you. They are sexy as anything," he grinned, with a groan from Provenza being heard loud and clear, "but Provenza and I don't wear glasses."

Sharon turned to Provenza, "Lieutenant, he wears glasses and hates wearing them anywhere but at home. He needs them to read." She turned back to Andy, "Yes," she nodded, "you're right, they are very sexy." She winked at him as she walked back to the kitchen for more food.

"Can you two keep this lovey dovey stuff to yourself?" Provenza gestured. "I don't want to hear this! It's Christmas! It's the time to hate being around your family, not the time for this love stuff!"

Andy shook his head at Provenza, "Do you realize how insane that sounds? Plus, you're in my home. If I want to tell her how much I love her and how sexy she is," he grinned, "I will."

"Speaking of, when are you two idiots finally planning to tell the team? I've been good about not being all gossip girl, but come on! You two have been dating for months!"

Sharon put down another plate of food, and she turned back to the men, "Lieutenant, we agree and plan to tell everyone at the party."

"Hello," they heard Gabriel say as he walked in. The rest of the team appeared to be behind him. Andy helped Sharon with the last of the food, while the team got situated. Provenza had already flopped down in Andy's favorite recliner.

"Lieutenant, Merry Christmas," Julio grinned, handing Provenza a six pack of beer. Provenza cracked a smile, taking the beer, while the team moved into the house to drop their presents in the pile.

"The food looks great, Sir," Julio smiled. "Didn't know you were such the cook."

"Yeah, well, I love cooking. I did do a few things, but she," he nodded to Sharon, "did the rest."

"It was nothing," Sharon waved off. "I love cooking for Christmas parties."

"I knew there was a reason we wanted you hear, Ma'am," Julio grinned and walked to the table to dig in.

The team started to mingle and pile up their plates. Once everyone had food, they gathered around in the living room to sit and visit.

"Should we start Secret Santa?" Buzz asked.

"You're like a kid on Christmas!" Provenza complained. "Did you put cookies out for Santa?"

"No, that's not for two days," Buzz added, very intent on keeping the traditions of Christmas.

"Buzz," Andy asked, with a surprised look, "what do you do when your cookies are still there on Christmas morning?"

"What do you mean, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked. "They have always been eaten," he shook his head. "You shouldn't doubt the magic of Christmas."

"Let's start the presents!" Julio rubbed his hands together. "I guess we should let Buzz go first since he is dying to give his gift."

"I have Buzz's gift!" Sharon said happily and passed the two presents to him.

"Captain," Provenza pointed out, irritated, "you didn't have to go all crazy on us and get more than one gift."

"I stuck to the price range, Lieutenant," she nodded. Buzz opened the gifts.

"Ma'am, the sweater is perfect. I will wear it for Christmas. Thank you, and I'm really excited you got something for the Prius."

"You're welcome, Buzz," she smiled.

"Well, thank you," he nodded again. "Lieutenant, this is for you," he handed a gift to Andy.

"Thanks, Buzz," Andy said as he opened it. "Oh, wow, thanks for the new tie." Buzz had found Andy a very nice red and black striped tie. Sharon smiled at Andy when she caught his gaze; she agreed it was a very nice gift.

"I guess then, I go next?" Andy asked. Buzz nodded, and Andy handed the gift to Mike. "Here, Mike. I hope you like this. If you don't, I have the receipt."

"Very nice," Mike grinned as he opened it. "I was telling my sons about something similar to this. I have been researching them. Thanks, Andy."

Mike gave his gift to Gabriel, and Gabriel shook his head as he opened it, "Thanks, Lieutenant," he chuckled. "He got me the 'Idiots Guide to Dating,' along with a month subscription to a dating website. How did you know, Lieutenant?"

Mike shrugged, "Honestly, I heard you and Julio talking about it the other day, and I figured if I drew either of you, I'd get you this gift. Hope you like it. You never know with those online dating services."

"You might end up our next case," Provenza grumbled. "Just don't be stupid with that, Gabriel."

"I'll see how it goes, Lieutenants. Thank you," he nodded to Mike.

"Ahh, I guess here is my gift to you, Lieutenant," Gabriel handed Provenza a gift bag. Provenza glanced inside, inspected the gift without taking it out, and he nodded to Gabriel. "Thank you. You have redeemed yourself from anytime you might have irritated me."

"What did you get, Sir?" Julio asked. The rest of the team looked on, wondering why Provenza hadn't pulled out the gift.

"A gift," he offered a small smile.

"Oh, come on, Provneza," Andy encouraged.

"Fine," Provneza said gruffly. "It's this," he produced the gift. "Gabriel made one stop, the grocery store. There's a six pack of beer and a huge rib eye steak, my favorite," he shrugged.

"You went to the grocery store?" Buzz asked horrified.

"Look at the guy," Gabriel offered his hand toward Provenza. "Obviously, he's perfectly happy with his gift."

"I can't believe you got him raw meat," Buzz shook his head.

"Well, Buzz, if you don't like it, you can change your rules for next year. I thought the captain was the one obsessed with the rules, but she's not complaining. I'm going to enjoy my steak tomorrow for dinner."

"Sir, whose gift do you have?" Julio asked.

"Oh, here," Provenza passed an envelope to Julio.

"You got him a gift certificate?" Andy asked, now irritated.

"No, why would I go to that trouble?" Provenza grumbled.

Julio chuckled, "Thanks, Sir, I think."

"What is it, Julio?" Mike asked.

"It's $30 with a note that says this should cover Lieutenant Provenza's food order the next three times I get food," he chuckled. "Thanks, Sir."

"That's not a gift if you are basically paying ahead for your food, Provenza!" Andy said, irritated. He turned to Julio, "Do not get his food anytime soon. He's pre-paid for food, and that's not the deal."

"Oh, look who is sticking to rules now," Provenza pointed out. "Flynn, as someone already said, he's perfectly happy with the gift," he gestured to Julio who held up the $20 bill."

"Okay, so Detective Sanchez, do you have the last gift?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," he smiled. "Captain, I drew you." Julio's odd smile had everyone perplexed. Sharon gave a quick shrug to Andy as she caught his eye. She opened it, turning a bit red as she did.

"So, I remembered you like flannel, Ma'am," he grinned. "Thought you would enjoy a flannel blanket." Sharon nodded, closing her eyes, as she chuckled. "Oh, there's also a gift card in there for pizza. I heard you love pizza."

Sharon tried to hide her confusion, "Thank you, detective," she nodded. Andy burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you got that after the undercover op," he shook his head.

"What are we missing?" Gabriel asked. Julio turned to Gabriel, smiling.

"That op was a mess for Chief, but it was pretty fun for me. Those two were forced to be in the same room with each other for days, and well, there was a lot of laughter about flannel," he shrugged. "Hope I wasn't too off base with the gift, Ma'am," he grinned.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I do get cold, so the blanket is appreciated."

"Yeah, that was an interesting operation, Mike chuckled. "Julio, you managed to win the bet on that. Captain, Andy, we bet you two would kill each other before it was over," he chuckled. "Julio was the holdout that you would survive."

Provenza groaned and mumbled under his breath. Andy shook his head at him, as the team turned to him.

"What's that, Lieutenant?" Julio asked.

"Nothing, just that operation was quite eye opening," he shook his head. "Keeps coming back to haunt me."

"How's that, Sir?" Gabriel asked Provenza.

Andy met Sharon's eyes, and the two both offered a quick shrug to each other. She nodded to Andy to break the news to the team.

"Umm, guys," he stood, scratching his neck. "So, umm, well," and he was interrupted by a phone ringing.

"Oh, it's Chief Johnson!" Gabriel exclaimed, as he connected the call. Andy's announcement was put on hold with Brenda's call.

"Hello, everyone," she smiled. "Sorry I'm missing the party. Daddy and Momma wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

The team spent a few minutes talking to Brenda, but soon, they were getting restless. Some got up for more food, and some started to use the restroom and refill their drinks.

"Ahh, Andy?" Mike stood at Andy's bookcase and turned to the group, a question obviously on his mind. Gabriel was still talking to Brenda, but he was finishing too.

"What's up, Mike?" Andy asked, as he was collecting trash from the table. He looked over to Mike and gestured, "You're welcome to take anything home to read. I've read everything up there."

"Oh, no, it's not that," Mike chuckled as he turned back to the group. He had a photo in hand, "If I'm not mistaken, these two look familiar."

Andy stepped over to Mike, while the group looked up to see what was going on. Sharon let out a slight gasp and a sigh, as she stood. She knew the picture.

"Oh," Andy paused, nodding. "Ahh, well."

"If I'm not mistaken," Mike grinned, "and, I'm pretty sure I'm not, that looks like a very young Officer Flynn with a certain lady we all know."

The rest of the group lifted their heads higher as if that would allow them to see the picture. Andy just chuckled and scratched his head.

"Yeah, well, what can I say?" Andy shrugged. Mike's eyes grew wide at the realization. Provenza could be heard saying, 'Idiots,' as the rest of the team wondered.

"What is it, Tao?" Julio asked. Mike grabbed the photo from Andy, and he smiled to the group as he produced it like show and tell.

"Looks like our very own captain and Andy," he nodded to the two individuals. "I'm guessing Andy's graduation from the academy, and Captain," he turned to Sharon, "you aren't in uniform, so I'm guessing you weren't at the academy yet."

Sharon, who was now standing, took a step closer to the photo. Andy walked up behind Mike too, so both were now looking at it in the frame. She offered a small shrug.

"No," she smiled. "I wasn't in that academy class. I was 19 still," she smiled.

Andy chuckled, looking at the photo and back to Sharon. He spoke to her like she was the only person in the room, "I think you might be more beautiful now than you were then."

Sharon blushed and looked down, smiling.

"Eeew, what is going on?" Gabriel asked.

"Guys, let's just say that undercover stint was pretty great for some of us. After 30 years, we got back together," Andy smiled brightly, holding out his hand to Sharon. He moved closer to her, planting a huge kiss on her lips. The team all stood in shock, as Sharon returned the kiss. She turned to the group.

"Gentlemen, I thought you were better detectives than that," she winked to Andy, moving to his side. The two continued to smile at each other as the team stood, still in shock.

"Julio," Andy grinned, "thanks for the flannel blanket. Sharon always likes a blanket when we curl up on the couch."


End file.
